Valhalla
by poxelda
Summary: Sequel to Insomnia. The team goes after the vast conspiracy that threatens the very foundation of civillization.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is the sequel for Insomnia, thank you all for your kind reviews for my stories. Each one I am learning and your feedback helps so much. Thank you. I hope you enjoy this one.**

The plane was unnaturally silent. Passengers sat heads back on their seats or leaning against the windows, nothing moved there was no sound. Computers remained open to pages, magazines fluttered to the floor. The stewardess lay in the aisle a dropped bottle of vodka just out of reach half empty rolling gently back and forth with the plane as it bobs in slight turbulence. In the cockpit, the pilot, copilot and navigator have fallen to the center, as if they were consulting each other. The automatic pilot's red light flashed keeping the plane flying. The radio in the pilot's ear squawked the same message over and over, the sender's voice rising in volume and alarm.

"Flight Delta Tango Tango Alpha, please respond! Please respond." Two other planes flew alongside the plane, going much slower than the combat speeds they were made for.

"There's no one moving, command. Repeat looks like no one is alive in Delta Tango Tango Alpha." The lead fighter pilot said. There was a long crackle of silence then a sad voice gave the quiet order.

"Take it down, squad leader. Repeat, take it down."

Jack watched MacGyver through the window. The younger man was punching a bag as if he was trying to kill a Terminator. Jack frowned. Bozer had left yesterday to go to Baja to direct a film made by Cynthia Jean's small film production company. They were staying with the transgender marine's parents. All of them had come though for the team at what Jack thought of as the Theater battle. It had been worse than many of the battles Jack had fought in Delta overseas. It was still raw. He watched Mac heave in air, the kid was still too pale for Jack's liking. It had been six months since he'd gotten out of the hospital. He had been in the hospital for two months, half of that near death on a vent. Every time Jack saw him he felt an uncontrollable pang of gratitude and fear. He pushed open the door. Mac was so tired that his form sucked and he was actually barely moving the bag. He had started coming to Phoenix to work out since Bozer left. No, not to work out, to exorcise demons that haunted him and were too loud when he was by himself. Jack walked forward loudly stomping his feet, loud according to Jack's standards. The kid didn't notice. Jack scowled. Probably couldn't hear over his wheezing breath.

"Hey, bud." Jack said. Mac didn't stop. Jack tapped Mac on the shoulder and easily ducked the swing that came his way. Mac looked at him surprised, Jack wasn't sure if it was surprise that Jack was there or that Mac had swung at him. Jack held up his hands in surrender. Mac smiled. "I surrender, bud." Jack said, "I thing the bag's had enough too." Mac shrugged and began to unfasten the velcro holding on his fingerless gloves. He was panting. He went to the bench along the wall and grabbed his towel and took a long drag of water from a bottle beside the towel. He plopped down on the bench and hunched over taking deep breaths. He looked at the floor.

"How long have you been punching that thing?"

"Only about an hour...did weights before…" Mac said stopping to catch his breath. Jack's eyebrows went up.

"Seriously? What's going on?" Jack asked. Mac looked at him surprised.

"Nothing, gotta get in shape...for when we get a lead…" Jack sat next to his friend.

"You remember you're on stand down right? The doctor's said…"

"I know what the doctors said!" Mac raised his voice, stood up and started to pace. "I'm sick of what the doctors say. I am sick of doctors." Mac turned and strode to the showers. Jack caught up to him and grabbed his right arm spinning him around. Jack was braced for the punch he expected to follow the glare Mac threw him.

"C'mon now! You almost died…" Mac pulled his arm free.

"So you keep reminding me." He snarled. Jack stepped back, a punch would have hurt less. Mac's face softened and he put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm just going stir crazy. I want to be looking for these…" Mac trailed off trying to find a word nasty enough to describe the army that terrorized the neighborhood they had tried to save. He shook his head and met Jack's eye. "I have to get back to work, I have to…" Mac's expression had a faraway haunted look. Jack was about to pry harder when a cleared throat at the door turned them both around.

"Uh-Mattie wants us in the war room, now." Riley said. Jack nodded and turned back to Mac who was scowling. Mac turned away from them. "Mac, she wants you too." Mac turned and grinned. He punched Jack on the shoulder then turned to follow Riley. Jack's scowl deepened. He thought he had made it abundantly clear to Mattie that he didn't want Mac anywhere near this investigation. Flashes of memory, of the original mission against the Valhalla project-screams, explosions-mingled with ones from the Theater battle-an inferno, Mac having seizures after being exposed to an agent directly descended from the maniacs at the rogue CIA operation, the army they fought, Riley being shot...He shook his head and hurried to catch up to the others. He set his shoulders no way was he going to have anything like that happen again, no way-no matter what it took.

Mattie turned to face the team as they entered the war room. She wrinkled her nose at the sweaty MacGyver, but didn't say anything. Time was not on her side. He looked pale, shaky but ready for duty. The screen behind her showed an image of plane wreckage spread over a long prairie. Workers with blue jackets labeled with various agency names bent and walked around the wreckage.

"This is flight DATA, from Detroit to Seattle."

"Terrorist attack?" Mac asked reaching for a paper clip from the ever present bowl. Mattie turned smiling a small smile. That more than anything else, reassured her the her agent was ready for the field.

"Yes, but not the way it first looks. Everyone on board was already dead. The CDC was able to recover some of an agent that is similar to the one you were dosed with." Mattie paused watching Mac closely. His mouth quirked at the edges. He'd been wanting to take these guys down for awhile. Not for what they had done to him, but for what he had done to the vulnerable neighborhood they had been trying to save. He didn't notice Jack's murderous glare at Mattie or Riley's glance of fear as she rubbed her side where she had been shot. Mattie continued. "We are looking into ties with Valhalla and the attack at the theater. We think…"

"The theater was a test run, they didn't have the formula balanced. They needed a binder to keep the biologic agent from breaking down the nerve agent." Mac said absently. Jack smiled a small smile. His partner was back, he realized that there was no team without Mac. He still didn't have to like it though. Mattie nodded once again impressed by the sheer volume of knowlege Mac could conjure out of the smallest bits of information. Mac met her eyes, "the plane would be a perfect test of the formula and an easy way to measure dispersal rate and patterns."

"So what comes next?" Riley asked.

"They will do another test run, somewhere open with more people."

"Then?" Riley asked with a visible swallow. She knew she wouldn't like the answer. Mac set down his paperclip. He had formed a circle with continent outlines easily visible as an answer.

"Maya Bluehawk." The uniformed South Dakota sheriff said holding out her hand. Jack smiled and shook it. He was surprised at the strength and dry leathery callouses. She was almost as tall as he was and slightly on the plump side. Her black hair was pulled back in a short ponytail. She had angular cheekbones and a straight jaw that spoke of a strong personality.

"Jack Dalton," He said unable to keep the flirt out of his smile. She smiled back and made no move to hide the glance she threw from his head to toe. Jack squirmed a little, not used to being measured on a first meeting. Maya turned to Mac who had a knowing grin on his face.

"I'm MacGyver or Mac, this is Riley Davis. Thanks for giving us a ride." Maya shrugged and led the way out to a large white pick up marked with the sheriff's logo. It had obviously been given improvements for off-road driving-way off-road. Dirt caked it's side and tires. It had many dents and scratches. She hopped into the driver's seat and tapped the steering wheel humming to herself. Mac hurriedly threw his go bag in the back and went to climb in the small jump seat with Riley.

Jack stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Let me sit in the back." He whispered desperately. Mac grinned.

"She too much for you, Jack?"

"You saw her check me out, I feel like a side of beef at a banquet for starving people." Mac shrugged and pulled free. He laughed as he spoke over his shoulder.

"Now you know how it feels." Jack stared at him a long moment.

"What the hell does that mean?" He demanded. He got no answer. Sighing he slid into the front seat. Maya grinned at him.

"Ready?" Jack scooted closer to the door as she frankly gave him another once over.

"I don't know." He muttered quietly. He put on his shades pouting as Mac and Riley laughed.

Any humor they felt evaporated as they drew near the crash site. They passed a row of news stations with long lines of satellite dishes that looked like bowls tilted in different directions. They parked in the middle of a long line of official vans, trucks, and tents. Mac frowned. He hated disaster sites, he had seen too damn many. He met Jack's gaze. Jack looked unaffected unless you knew the tightness at the corner of his mouth and the muscles bunching at his jaw. Mac glanced over at Riley. She held her laptop against her chest and was a shade paler than normal. Her eyes showed fear and sorrow. Mac realized this was probably the first disaster site she had seen other than the theater, and being shot she probably hadn't seen that much. He put his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a watery smile. He squeezed gently.

"OK?" He asked in his soft, strong voice. She nodded, took a deep breath then wished she hadn't. The smell of burning plastic, flesh and jet fuel almost made her lose the donuts she'd eaten on the plane. "Why don't you hang back here and start digging up info on the passengers and see if we can find out why they targeted this flight." Riley looked at him with a mixture of shame and relief.

"It's ok, kiddo. We got this." Jack said softly. Riley nodded turned and returned the way they'd come. Mac and Jack shared a worried look then followed Maya into the crash debris field.

Mac's eyes raked the entire crash site missing nothing. Jack smiled, he could hear his partner's brain whirling. Maya looked at them puzzled.

"It's ok, my partner here is processing the scene." Jack said a touch of pride in his voice. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing moving to the sheriff's HQ.

"It's wrong." Mac said softly. Jack looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Mac didn't answer he dashed among the remnants of the plane and workers trying to investigate it. They watched him with curiosity. Jack made placating motions as he followed in his partner's wake. Mac bent before a half melted suitcase. Jack was about to ask questions when Mac brought out his swiss army knife and cut the strands of melted plastic away. His mouth snapped shut. An orange box with what looked like two tanks on one side and the words "Flight Recorder" on the side, emerged from the sticky mess. Mac considered it carefully. Other workers began to gather round.

"What the hell? We already found the black box over a mile away from here." Mac nodded and leaned over the box. He saw two green wires coming out of the box to the bottom of the suitcase. He pressed on the bottom of the suitcase and felt dread go up his spine. It felt like a soft bladder of air. Mac looked up at the ring of people his brain working furiously. It was obviously a dispersal mechanism with an explosive detonator. He looked at the rest of the debris mentally reconstructing the crash. It all fit with the shooting down by fighters, except this one piece. It was too big to fit in the passenger compartment. It must have been stowed. Mac thought of the theater attack. There had been a number of police officers involved which have since then gone off radar. Was it much of a stretch to think the TSA might have a few compromised people?

Mac set that aside for now. A cold realization hit him. Jack saw the alarmed look Few things alarmed Jack more than an alarmed MacGyver. Mac looked up at him, squinting up into the sun.

"Get everyone out of here! Get the CDC over here to cordon off the area." Mac yelled over the buzz of questions that exploded around him. Even though he looked young, Mac carried a calm authority in any emergency others accepted. "Now! I have to disarm this bomb…"

"You heard the man, move people. If he says to get, he means get!" Jack said. Fear conquered their stubbornness. Jack knelt beside Mac. He could see sweat beading on his friend's upper lip. Mac looked at him.

"You too, Jack." Before Jack could argue a group of people came running over in white biohazard suits. "I'll be fine…"Mac said. Jack snarled, turned away, he knew he would be just in the way and he also knew no one was more familiar than Mac with devices made from the Valhalla group, but Jack hated leaving him surrounded by faceless white forms. Mac bent and began to unscrew the case. A loud whistle sounded, Jack turned and began to run back to his partner-Not again, not again...his heart pounded out.


	2. Chapter 2

Mac winced at the volume of the whistle. He looked up at one of the suited figures near him and snatched his radio out of his hands. Mac quickly unscrewed the back and pulled out a wire, he connected that to the electronics inside the flight recorder and pushed the talk button. The whistle became a painful squeal as feedback came over all of their radios. Mac winced and finished removing the cover. He followed the wires and found a thick black tube, he folded it over and cut it. He winced as a small drop fell on his hand and burned like acid. He looked up at the nearest worker.

"Got a rubber band." The woman reached into one of the pockets in his suit and pulled out a hair holder. Mac wrapped it around the tube keeping fluid from the bottom of the suitcase from being sucked into air. He then reached in and easily disarmed the explosive for dispersal. He sat back and let out a breath. For all the complication of their weapon, their bombs were actually very primitive, and familiar. Mac held up his hand wincing at the reddening mark. He sighed. The last time he'd been exposed it had damn near killed him, what would another exposure do?

"Mac! Mac!" Jack ran up to them, Mac smiled as the ring of cdc workers held him back. "Dammit, get off of me"

"Jack, it's ok, relax." Mac called putting his hand out of sight. "They have to quarantine me as they isolate and dispose of this." Mac stood up. He felt a little winded and dizzy. He nodded to the figures approaching the flight recorder and explained to them how to transport them. They lead Jack away then Mac followed flanked by two CDC workers guiding him by the elbows. Jack followed not liking how pale Mac seemed to be. He was turned aside at the door of the CDC tent. He stormed back to Maya Bluehawk's truck and placed next to it like a hungry panther.

Riley who was curled up in the passenger's seat with her laptop on a knee and her other leg hanging out of the truck's open door watched him a long minute. Jack's cheeks puffed up and she could hear mumbling. She suspected he was swearing.

"Jack, what's up? Where's Mac?" Jack rounded on her and looked like he was going to take a swing. When Riley's eyes widened, he forced himself to calm down.

"He found a flight recorder in a melted up suitcase. Turns out there was a bomb with some of that bioweapon they used on the plane." Jack ran his hand through his short hair. Riley jumped up.

"What? Did he disarm it?" Jack took a deep breath and nodded. Riley frowned. "And?" Jack turned tears shining in his eyes.

"I think he's been exposed to it, again. Ri, this can't happen again!" Mac was led into a blue tent and passed over with harsh ultraviolet lights, his clothes were taken and bagged. He was given a shower of burning disinfectant. They handed him a white suit like theirs and took several vials of blood. He was led to a smaller tent that had a small cot behind a fan of plastic strips. A row of plastic one piece tables and chairs sat in a circle on the far wall away from the isolation cell. A discarded cigarette butt in an ashtray and abandoned cans showed they used this as a break tent when not in use.

"We have to isolate you for 48 hours-" Mac wheeled on the figure.

"No, absolutely not. We are after-"He began his chin jutting out. The figure shrugged,

"We have no reason to believe it is airborn, your teammates can come and visit you, but you aren't going anywhere for 48 hours and if we have to we can enforce that." Mac glared at the man's face through the clear visor. Mac snarled and turned pacing. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He rubbed his forehead. His blood pounded in his temples and he felt like he was coming down with a bad cold. He turned as Jack strode into the tent. He paused to glare at the man in the white suit. The man raised his lip in a sneer and pushed past him. Jack's eyes followed him, he could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Riley following him looked at him puzzled.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Jack looked at her and shook his head.

"There's something familiar about that dude, and not in a good way." Riley frowned and followed Jack. She felt it too. As she followed Jack it came to her like lightening.

"The moves like you." She said. Mac came closer and Jack whirled.

"What?"

"The way he walks, the cocky swagger…" Riley said. Jack was opening his mouth to protest that he wasn't cocky when Mac interrupted.

"She's right, Jack. He's got to be military. Special forces…" Mac trailed off, his eyes widening. "We have to get out of here, now." Both Riley and Jack looked at him frowning. Mac went to push through the plastic when men in military uniforms fanned in behind them, filling the tent. Jack tensed, but Riley put her hand on Jack's arm. He nodded, but clenched his teeth. A man smoking a cigarette strolled in the door.

He had the same build as Jack with salt and pepper short hair. There were no insignia on any of the uniforms. The man grinned when he saw Jack.

"Jacky boy! Great to see you bud!" Riley looked up at Jack's face. It showed betrayal in every crevasse.

"Hugh, you turned? You would betray the Unit? Me? After all we've been through, man?" Hugh shrugged and crossed over to Mac who glared at him. Hugh's eyes turned cold as iron.

"So Jack still has his pet." His eyes raked over Mac. "You're not much to look at but when my boys told me you disarmed the flight recorder...and survived a dosing with our experimental formula, well you became valuable." Jack moved with the speed of a tiger, he grabbed the soldier's leader by the shoulder, spun him around and slugged him as hard as he could. The man staggered back, then straightened with a smile. One of the soldiers hit Jack in the back of the head, hard.

"Jack!" Mac said pushing through the plastic running to his partner's side. Hugh lashed out and caught Mac in the gut doubling him over. The former Delta then slammed Mac across the side of his head. He dropped beside Jack, out cold. Jack forced his arms to lift him. The soldier went to hit him again, Hugh waved him away. Jack managed to wobble to his feet, he set himself and his hands closed in fists. Hugh pointed his gun at Mac's head.

"There's the fire Jacky boy. Pretty boy here is valuable but he doesn't have to be in one piece." The man smiled like a shark. "Personally for what he did to you I think our scientists should dissect him."

"What he did to me? You're the traitor you sorry son of a bitch!" Jack roared taking a step forward. Riley dug her nails into Jack's arm. He pulled back knowing if they tried anything now, they were all dead.

"Traitor? Now that is a matter of opinion which we will discuss at length, but not now and not here. You have a chance to do the right thing here, Jack. Dump this pretty boy and come back to the Unit, a new Unit, a better Unit. We are working to change the world. Remember when we fought for that, Jacky boy?" The man got closer and met Jack's glare. The man smiled again,

"Besides you owe me, Jacky boy, and I mean to collect." Jack looked away staring at the wall to the left of the man's ear, he said nothing. Riley looked back and forth her forehead crinkling in confusion. The renegade Delta chuckled to the soldiers.

"Let's move out, bring him." He pointed at Mac with the barrel of his weapon. He looked at Riley and looked her over from her head to her feet. Riley met his gaze defiantly and didn't back down. "Sorry sweetheart, we don't need you." He looked at two soldiers behind him. "Kill her-" Jack leapt forward. Hugh savagely slammed the butt of his rifle into Jack's solar plexes, pivoted and smashed Jack on the back of the head. Jack dropped unmoving.

"No!" Riley screamed. She ran forward and was grabbed by two soldiers. She kicked one hard in the shin and stomped on another's foot. Hugh smashed out and his rifle hit Riley square on the bridge of her nose. She flopped to the ground. She kicked up and managed to get one of the soldiers on the side of his knee. The man fell to one knee with a grunt of pain. Another soldier went to shoot Riley, she closed her eyes waiting to die. The leader pushed the barrel up.

"Quietly." He said softly. Riley smiled and opened her mouth to let out the loudest scream she could manage. Hugh lashed out with his boot and caught Riley in the throat. Riley began gasping for air. Hugh smiled and nodded. The other soldiers lifted Jack and Mac and carried them away. Riley fought to keep breathing, everything was wobbly around her. The remaining soldiers bent, grabbed her and dragged her out of the tent. She tried to fight, to scream, to anything-but she could only hang limply gagging as they carried her away from the crash site to a small ravine far enough away, no one would hear the shots, if shooting her was their plan.


	3. Chapter 3

Mac came to awareness in different waves of pain. First he could feel dry blood that had run down his face and the bump pulsating with agony it had come from. He moved his jaw, it seemed to squeak in pain, but he didn't think nothing was broken. His face was wet from watering eyes and nose, and he definitely had stuffy head. His lungs felt like he'd gone on a longer morning run than he normally did. He went to wipe his face and frowned. Mac became aware of the uncomfortable position he seemed to be tied in. His arms were pulled behind him painfully, his shoulders throbbed. He could feel plastic ties holding his elbows and wrists together. Mac knew the technique, his thumbs were also probably tied together tightly, but he couldn't feel them. He also couldn't feel anything in his legs except pain in his knees. Mac went to move his feet and found himself being strangled across his adam's apple by a sharp plastic tie or wire. He leaned back, moaning as his shoulders flared into pain. His neck was tied to his ankles. If he moved or tried to straighten, the garrot around his throat would tighten. Mac managed to swallow. He took a deep breath sweeping his pain and fear into a box at the back of his mind. He opened his eyes and his shoulders slumped.

Opening his eyes only brought into focus an angry yellow eye glaring at him. It was in a peep hole. With the little bit of light it gave off he could make out slight shadows around him. He there was a loud engine behind him, a jet engine. He sniffed. Stale air tinged with oil and chemicals. Off to his left there was a wall. He tilted himself careful to keep his body in line. He landed against it and leaned his head against it. Cold metal, solid probably an alloy. He could feel rivets against his arm. Carefully he took a deep breath and turned his head. The wire around his throat tightened, he forced him to remain calm and put his ear against the metal. The loudness of the engine told him it wasn't more than ten feet behind the box he was in, even above the hum that was so loud he could feel it all around him he heard the slight murmur of voices. He leaned back and straightened, sucking in air. Mac looked up in surprise. The feather touch of a small vent letting in air brushed at his hair. He looked up wincing in the pulling of his shoulders. Mac smiled. A small air jet, like the one found on every passenger plane hissed above him. It was something he could use, if he could get out of the bindings that held him. He closed his eyes. He fought it but sneezed, then gasped desperately shaking his head to loosen the noose enough to gasp in air. Finally he was able to suck in air. He wanted to wipe his face so bad, it hurt. He pushed his mind away from the physical discomfort forcing his brain to heal and work out a plan, or at least a part of a plan.

Mac leaned against the wall. He kept his eyes closed. Even his earliest memories were haunted by shadows snaking alive the dark side of his vast imagination and gnawing away at his rational control until he would awake screaming. His dad would yell at him calling a baby, real men didn't fear the dark, nothing to fear but fear itself...his dad was never original in the platitudes he tried to man up his son with. His mom, Mac swallowed, his mom would always come. She would come even if it was every night. She would come and hold him then use logic to show there was no way monsters could get into his room. The arguments probably wouldn't stand up to real scrutiny but it shifted Mac's imagination from fear to logic. Mac frowned. He didn't normally think of his mom that often. Losing his mom was like a sucking wound at the center of him that had a thick scab every thought of her would rip away again and again. It still hurt. It always would, but now he was remembering happier memories, prizing them especially as there weren't that many of them. He opened his eyes and shrugged his shoulders to try to relieve the stress on them. Ever since he had been on the vent, one foot through the doorway to the other side, as Jack put it, he felt...not at peace exactly, but that it was a scar rather than a scab and the wound could one day heal. He didn't remember much about that month, but he could almost remember his mom being with him somehow. Had she come to him when he almost died? Would she come again? Would he find peace and forget her completely?

MacGyver shook his head and winced as the wire dug into his throat. He swept those worries into their box and focused on the situation he found himself in. Worry about Jack haunted him. Was Jack and Riley even alive? He knew they were, he had to believe they were, so they were until he saw their bodies. They were and they needed him. He tried to pull his elbows apart but he barely had any feeling in them.

Damnit! There had to be a way. There was always a way! He took another deep breath and stared at the small opening that seemed to stare at him like an angry eye. Hugh Silverman, where had he come from? How had they turned him? Mac had never met him but Jack had often showed him old photos of the two of them together, usually drinking beer or having pretty ladies hanging off their arms. He had come up through Delta with Jack. He had been like a big brother to Jack. Whenever he talked about the man the stories would end with them getting busted for something or getting away with some mischief, then Jack would get a distant gaze with a tint of somberness that never seemed to ease. When asked, Jack once told him that he owed Hugh a debt he could never repay. Mac had pressed him. Jack had replied "It's sorta like the debt I owe you." Mac had never understood what Jack meant. After all the sacrifices the man had made putting Mac's well-being ahead of his own, what debt could he possible owe to MacGyver?

Mac found a thought worming its way into his brain. This group obviously had ways of luring in decorated police officers. Would they-could they turn Jack? Was this debt to Silverman enough to take Jack away? Mac's breathing increased. His rational mind told him, no absolutely no way-but he had once thought that about his dad too.

Riley kicked out and squirmed with everything she had. Her throat hurt like crazy but she could breath. Blood from her obviously broken nose burned her eyes, but fear pushed aside any pain. The soldiers threw her on the ground. She cried out in pain as the still healing site of her bullet wound landed in a rock. She whirled forcing herself on her knees. There were two soldiers. They looked bored. For some reason that really pissed Riley off. They were going to kill her and they were BORED? Under her hands she could feel gravel and a rock the size of a tuber. She grabbed it in her right hand. It wasn't much but she was going to give them what she could. One was pulling out a smoke and looked up at the vast sky above.

"God, it's beautiful out here!" He said blowing smoke out his nose. The other soldier might have been carved out of stone. His face was expressionless. Meeting his eyes creeped Riley out, she didn't think he blinked. He stared at her, neither threatening or empathetic, only indifferent. Riley raised herself to a squat. He turned his gun to her, the finger pulling the trigger a little bit more. Riley knelt back down. The finger relaxed but the gun didn't move. The man smoking turned to smile at Riley. "Look from here you can see the milky way. You don't see this many stars in a city, and that smell…"the man took a long breath, "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful." The man shrugged and tossed the cigarette butt to the ground grinding it into the dirt. Riley frowned. What were they waiting for? The man was about to speak when his tac radio buzzed to life.

"Valkyrie, this is Loki. We are a go for Valhalla." The soldier nodded and toggled the mic.

"Acknowledged Loki." The man then nodded to the other soldier. He didn't pause he smoothly lifted the gun. Riley was already moving. She threw the rock at the man's head. It missed but was enough for the man to move the muzzle enough so the bullet missed her. She rolled and kicked out at the soldier's groin. The man pivoted so her foot hit his thigh. She rolled away as he slammed the butt of his rifle into the dirt where she had just been. She glanced over she shoulder to see the scenic admiring soldier level his rifle. There was no way to avoid it. Riley winced as three gunshots rang loud in the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack's head throbbed. He listened keeping his eyes closed.

"Valkyrie, this is Loki, we are a go for Valhalla."

"Acknowledged, Loki." Jack fought to keep his face blank. Hugh Silverman had given the signal to start an operation, Jack had heard the same tone countless times. After the events of the last six months, he had a terrible feeling something big and horrible had been set in motion. He forced his fear away. His first priority was finding MacGyver.

"You can sit up, Jack. I know you're awake." Silverman said. Jack sighed and pushed himself up. He was surprised to find he was unbound, his head wound had been treated and he was sitting on a soft leather seat. Hugh sat across from him and there was a small table between them. Jack glanced around. He counted six soldiers around him in the same unmarked uniforms. Two were cleaning and checking weapons, the rest were talking and playing cards. The jet was similar to a foundation jet with couches and chairs scattered around the cabin, in the back of the plane was a clear area and Jack could make out a hatch with the same sort of tank on it as Mac had disarmed at the crash site. Jack felt cold fear clutch his heart, realizing he suddenly knew where Mac was. He tensed ready to fight his way to his friend when the familiar cocking of a gun came from the table across from him. 

"Some things never change," Hugh said. Jack forced himself to be calm and put on a smile. Glancing at the window on his right. Jack saw they were flying over the ocean. "Elbows on the table," Hugh said.

"Didn't your mama ever tell you that's rude?" Jack said doing as he was told. To his surprise, Hugh laughed a genuine laugh. Jack had to admit that was a bit unnerving. Hugh shook his head as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. He moved his arm under the table beside him. Before Jack could move he nodded to Jack's left. Jack looked over and saw a man sitting across from him, the man's cold smile matched the gleaming silver of the small caliber gun held in his fist. Jack sighed and forced himself to relax. The last time he'd seen this man he'd been in police gear heading a mobile crime scene unit at the theater. Jack nodded.

"Captain." He greeted amicably. The Captain nodded back. There was no friendliness in the exchange, just a promise- the promise of violence and death. Jack put his arms casually on the table and leaned back studying Hugh. Hugh looked at his watch. He lifted a radio from the table.

"Freya, this is Loki. ETA ten hours."

"Acknowledged" Jack frowned. The voice was a sultry woman with an African accent Jack couldn't place. He did a mental calculation. He glanced at his own watch, his eyes widened. He'd been out about three hours. He mentally flipped through places in Africa a fourteen-hour flight could take them. He settled on the western coast. Jack frowned. There weren't any countries hostile enough to pull off something like this against the US.

"I see those wheels working, Jack. Always the thinker." Silverman shook a cigarette out of a pack, lit it and blew out a long stream of smoke.

"I don't think you're supposed to smoke on a plane," Jack said meeting Hugh's eyes. They were a shining gray. Hugh smiled. Again Jack was reminded of a shark.

"Arrest me." Silverman shrugged leaning back. He studied Jack. "What happened to us, Jacky boy?"

"You turned traitor, for one," Jack said. Anger flashed across Hugh's face, but his body remained relaxed.

"I turned traitor? Who was it who left the Unit? You left the team, Jacky boy, you left me!" Hugh leaned closer. "Why? What was so important you had to abandon us? You do remember Budapest, right?" Jack looked down at his hands taking a steadying breath. He did remember. He and Hugh had been as close as...well almost as close as he and Mac. They'd been through hell to get through Delta, and they raised a good portion of hell on leave or furlough. Then the CIA entered the picture. Hugh had been put in charge of a small outfit to infiltrate and execute high profile targets, a nice way of saying wetwork, murder. Jack swallowed hard remembering the terrible things they had done. At first, he did it because he knew it helped his country, then he did it because it had to be done, then he did it because he'd gone numb. Hugh had changed too. When they started he was a fun loving good ol' boy from Okie, he became a cold killer. Jack had turned off so much he never noticed that Hugh had started to enjoy the killing. Enjoyed and became more brutal with each assignment. In Budapest, they'd had wrong intel. Jack closed his heads as memories burned deep seered across his thoughts. Children. They had killed innocent children. Jack hadn't himself, he couldn't, but they had died all the same. The worst part is at the time he looked over their small broken bodies he had felt nothing. He decided he didn't like who he'd become. He left the celebration party, the team always had after a successful op. Jack wondered how they could possibly celebrate this colossal fuck-up that had ended with a long row of children dead.

He'd gone back to his room. Drank a lot of whiskeys and looked at his weapon. It was a part of him. He wondered how many people he'd killed with it. He didn't like the number of ones he remembered and hated himself anew with the probable number of the ones he couldn't remember. He remembered the black hole of the barrel facing him, a black eye with eternal judgment. Just as he pulled the trigger a hand had come out of nowhere and pushed it away. Hugh had talked him down that night and the next week, asking for a furlough for them both. Hugh had taken him on a whirlwind tour of Mexico's hotspots. Jack had gone through the motions of having fun, but he felt hollow, purposeless. Silverman helped him through the night terrors, the darkest nights. Jack felt a love and loyalty to the man, but Jack knew it was over. He left the night before they were supposed to return to the team. He had gone behind Hugh's back and talked open and frankly with the commander of Delta. He was reassigned to a "low stress" position watching some EOD kid's back. Jack smiled. Low stress, right. He looked up at Hugh's cold eyes. He never regretted leaving, but he did regret leaving without talking to the man. He could understand why the man felt betrayed.

"Yeah, Hugh, of course, I remember. I'm sorry I left that way-"

"Sorry! We were brothers, you were like my son, man. What was so damned important about this damned kid that you were willing to throw away all of that? What? Tell me." Hugh leaned forward, and for the first time, his expression changed to one of hurt and betrayal. Jack looked out at the water below them gathering his words. How could he explain? Hugh had saved his life, but Mac had saved his soul. When he met Mac...something deep inside him he had thought long gone had come alive again. Mac's sheer courage and goodness had warmed all the frozen parts of his heart. He began to believe in the goodness of the world again. Mac always told him how much he owed Jack, but he never understood the debt Jack owed him. He turned back to Hugh.

"Is that what this is? You're jealous of MacGyver?" Jack said. Surprise crossed Hugh's face, he sat back and took a long drag on the cigarette.

"No…"He paused looking out the window and shrugged. Jack's eyebrows raised. "Yeah, maybe. Hell, I don't know Jack." Silverman stomped out the cigarette in a small tin ashtray. He leaned closer to Jack. "It doesn't matter, he's already dead." Jack felt the bottom of the plane drop out under his stomach. His face took on a deadly cold. Silverman laughed and leaned back. Jack's fists clenched into fists.

"Oh, Jacky boy, you are so easy. Don't worry the little worm is alive. At least for now. Where he's headed he's gonna wish that I'd killed him." Jack felt his nails dig into his palms, and his jaw was nailed shut by muscles flexing. "No Jack, I don't care why you left. I get that you were in a bad place. I know you remember. I get it. No this is something huge, something that will change the world, remember when we wanted to do that?"

"I remember when we both wanted to serve our country," Jack growled. Hugh rolled his eyes and lit another cigarette.

"And where did that get us? No this is a chance to shape the world make it better-"

"You know who else talks like that? Terrorists, you do remember we use to hunt them down."

"I've learned that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Jacky boy, listen, you could lead your own team, save the people you love from what's coming. I didn't throw you in with the pretty boy because I know you. I know the fire you get in the fight. I know-"  
"If you think I would betray my country or MacGyver, you don't know me at all," Jack said. His eyes were cold as a knife. Hugh stared into them and blew out smoke. He shook his head sadly.

"What happened to you, man? You were the best of us, you would plunge into fights that left me spitless. Now what? You babysit for a living? They are wasting you, destroying you and you don't even see it." Silverman sighed and stood up. He leaned over Jack his eyes hardening. "All that aside, you owe me. You're an honorable man, you can't deny your debt." Jack smiled and stood up, his face an inch from Hugh's. He ignored the sound of the others in the compartment standing and aiming their weapons at him.

"You're right, I do owe you big, so here's the deal. When I kill you, I'll do it quickly." Hugh's face fell into a stony portrait of rage.

"Fine, you'll die with your precious MacGyver." Silverman hissed. Jack's grin grew even bigger.

"Nothing I'd rather do," Jack said. Their eyes remained locked a long minute. Silverman turned away to the man across the aisle.

"Captain, throw him in with pretty boy." The man grinned a cold smile.

"Yes, sir." Jack turned and walked ahead of him without needing encouragement. He didn't look back.


	5. Chapter 5

If Mac was honest with himself, he had to admit he was starting to freak out a little. OK, if he was really being honest he would admit he was freaking out a lot. He was wet with sweat and he couldn't help himself from shuddering. He didn't know if it was from being cold or from the exertion of holding himself still in such a painful position. His teeth chattered. He leaned against the wall but still had to force his numb body to stay in the rigid position. Every time he forgot or sneezed he would be reminded by the sharp wire cutting into his throat. He closed his eyes but had nowhere left to go in his head.

All he focused on was not moving. He knew how stress positions worked. At first, you felt tired, then numb, then your body began to demand movement no matter what the course would be. Eventually, the body won and you moved whether you wanted to or not. Mac was hanging on by his fingernails to keep the last from happening, but it was a fight he was going to lose. He wondered if the garrote around his neck would be tight enough to cut his head off or merely slit his throat enough to suffocate him or if he'd bleed out. He found himself morbidly considering which he would prefer when half of the top of the cell opened. Mac looked up in surprise, his heart leaped as Jack was thrown in with him, then he began to gag.

"Mac?" Jack asked. He blinked. He'd seen a glimpse of Mac tied up before the darkness engulfed him. Mac was making the same sound as a choking cat. Not good. He righted himself and banged his head against the top of the small box. By the glance, he'd gotten. He guessed it to be about five feet wide, ten feet long and four feet deep. He crossed to his friend desperate. He felt the shuddering of his friend. The memory of the seizure he'd had ghosted across his mind. He shoved it aside. His eyes were adjusted to the very dim light. He saw Mac looking at him with panic. Jack reached up to his neck and cold feel the wetness of blood running down from the garrote. He knew there was no way for him to loosen it. Desperately he reached into Mac's pocket. Nothing. His heart thudding he scrounged in his other pocket. He felt the familiar shape of Mac's knife. He cried out in delight and pulled out the biggest blade. He reached behind Mac and slit the wire attaching Mac's neck to his feet. Mac fell forward against Jack. He still couldn't breathe.

"Easy...almost...Got it!" Mac began to gasp, leaning his head gratefully against Jack's shoulder. He closed his eyes. He was dimly aware of Jack cutting behind him. He felt the pressure on his shoulders ease, but couldn't feel anything in his arms or legs. Jack gently lifted Mac and laid him out flat. Pins and needles began to travel up and down his shaking body. He smiled up at Jack.

"'Bout….time…" He said around chattering teeth. Jack grinned back.

"Well you know, dramatic entrance and all…"Jack ran his hands along Mac's body. Mac's hands, lower legs, and forearms were swollen. He could feel a blood-caked golf ball on Mac's head behind his ear. When Jack pressed on his abdomen, Mac gave a wheeze of pain. Jack opened Mac's shirt. In the near darkness, Jack couldn't see how bruised it was, but he didn't feel anything was broken. He began to massage Mac's arms and legs. Mac closed his eyes and Jack could just make out the wrinkle between his eyes that always indicated he was in pain.

"Sorry, bud," Jack said. Mac looked up at him. He could tell Jack was apologizing for more than the pain in his body as feeling returned.

"F...for...what?" Mac said around chattering teeth. Jack avoided meeting his gaze. Mac started to become alarmed. "Jack?" He managed to lift a painfully tingling hand and flop it on Jack's knee. "For...what, Jack?" Jack sighed and stopped massaging Mac's body. He leaned back against the cold metal wall.

"Hugh-" Jack stopped when Mac wheezed out a weak laugh. Jack felt Mac's head. He didn't have a fever if anything he felt cool to the touch. His face was wet. Jack automatically wiped Mac's face with the sleeve of his shirt. Mac sighed a happy smile on his face.

"Jack...listen, it's not your fault. How could you have known...he'd be there." Jack was relieved that Mac's voice was returning to normal, even as he was alarmed when Mac closed his eyes and gave a small cry of pain.

"It's my fault he hates you. He's got some sort of sick jealousy thing going on." Mac shrugged then hissed in pain.

"Still not your fault," Mac said. Jack sighed. He still felt guilty but knew Mac would stubbornly keep telling him it wasn't his fault. He lay down beside Mac and pulled him in close. He ignored the sweatiness.

"Jack...what are you doing?" Mac said.

"Warming you up, you're shivering like a wet puppy," Jack said. Mac rolled his eyes.

"Again...with the puppy…" He didn't move to get away.

"Well, you are so damn cute-"

"Shut up, Jack." Jack could hear Mac's exhaustion.

"Well, we're on out way to West Africa," Jack said. Mac hummed in response. Jack pulled him closer, for his own comfort more than his partner's. Jack sighed. They had time for Mac to rest a little, and for Jack to get his mental equilibrium back. If he knew Mac, the kid would have figured out fifty ways to escape already, and if he hadn't Jack knew he would. Mac wouldn't do it for himself, but to get Jack out. Jack laid his head against the metal that thrummed under him. It was how they fit together, how they worked. Jack realized that he had been wrong. Hugh and he had never had a relationship like his and MacGyver's. Hugh was incapable of even a drop of trust and strength Mac carried in his little toe. Most people were, Jack felt really blessed and honored to be able to call Mac a friend. He smiled grimly. Even if it meant they would die together.

Riley fell back on her ass in surprise. The two soldiers dropped dead to the ground. She felt arms grab her under her armpits and lifting her to her feet. She tensed ready to fight. 

"Shhh...I don't know how many of them there are, we have to get out of here." The voice of Maya Bluehawk whispered softly in her ear. Riley relaxed. Her knees wobbled. She would have fallen, but Maya took Riley's right arm and draped it around her shoulders. "My truck is at the end of this ravine if they haven't found it already." Riley went to ask a question, but only a raw squeak came out. Maya glanced at her worried. "Don't worry I'll get you out of here and to the docs. Then we can figure out what to do. Half of those guys at the crash site pulled guns and rounded up the others. I managed to escape and set up a diversion." Riley shot her a puzzled look. Maya grinned. "Don't worry it'll cover our escape. My brother got into running a still over at Rosebud until it accidentally blew up. Taught me everything I needed." They trekked around a small group of rocks and paused. They could hear shouts and gunshots in the distance. Maya kept her eyes on the ground. Riley tried to ease her weight off the woman. She could feel the tension in the woman's shoulders. She knew the sacrifice the woman had made saving her. Maya had left her squadmates to escape with Riley.

"I got your computer too. You were the only ones I know for sure aren't in on this mess." The woman's voice took a hard edge. "I can't even trust my own people, these people seem to be everywhere. Here we are. The truck was hidden behind a clump of tall grasses. The two women paused, but the night around them was quiet. Maya helped Riley into the truck then ran around to the other side. She paused, looking at the clock lit up on the dash. She grinned at Riley but didn't move to turn the truck on. Before Riley could ask, there was a sudden explosion behind them. Maya had to truck running and gunning before the spume of flames even reached its apex. Maya glanced over. "Rocket fuel is flammable, who knew?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everybody, thank you for your continued views. Have you caught your breath (see I can write without cliffies), now to the real whumpfest. LOEL (lots of evil laughs)**

A flash of light and a cry of pain woke Jack up from a sleep he didn't know he'd fallen into. He jumped to his feet and slammed his head against the short metal ceiling. He fell on his ass making his own cry of pain. He looked over and saw that he was sitting next to Mac who was breathing heavy and shaking his right hand. Jack could see the dim light reflect off the younger man's grin.

"Short ceiling." Mac said dryly. Jack scowled. Mac chuckled and moved to his knees.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

"Working on power cords without light." Mac said, taking a deep breath. Jack didn't like how his breathing sounded. Jack noticed a long tower of wires pulled out of the ceiling. "You said you thought we were heading for West Africa?"

"Yeah, while Hugh…" Jack swallowed. "I heard that we had ten hours until we arrived to Valhalla HQ, run by someone named Freya."

"Norse god of death." Mac said softly. Jack could feel his partner's eyes on him. He knew what Mac wanted. Jack tried to change the subject. "I don't remember her on _Thor_ and I thought we had a messed up family-"

"Jack, don't." Jack felt Mac's hand on his shoulder. He frowned, Mac was still trembling. "What did Hugh do?" Mac's soft, worried voice cut through Jack's resolve.

"No, nothing like that. We just had a conversation."

"He tried to recruit you." Mac's voice was almost lost in the constant background roar of the engine. Jack frowned trying to see Mac's face. There was such a deadness and hurt in his voice.

"Did you really think I'd consider it for a single instant?" Jack said, his own hurt coming through. Mac moved over to the hanging wires. Jack grabbed his arm and almost pulled Mac over. "You know I would never abandon you, right?"

"Of course." Mac's voice creaked in the middle. Jack stared at Mac's face. He couldn't see the expression on his face. Jack didn't believe Mac. Jack wondered what could have happened for Mac to ever doubt him. He cleared his throat and glanced at his watch, pressing the button to light up the time. He did a quick calculation.

"We have around an hour before we land...wherever." He looked up to see Mac staring at his watch, he glanced up at Jack with a look Jack knew well. Usually that look proceeded Mac ripping apart Jack's cell phone or blowing up a vehicle rented in Jack's name.

"What?" Realization hit. "No, no, no…" Jack's voice had a note of resignation as Mac tore his watch off his wrist. Jack closed his eyes. That was a watch Riley had given him last Christmas. Jack sighed. Riley would understand, he hoped. Mac was muttering. Jack couldn't hear what he was saying over the engine noise, but Jack recognized the tone. When Mac was doing one of his brilliant plans he explained it as he went, saving him from being asked questions that would interrupt his flow of thought. Jack realized he didn't really miss knowing what he was saying. Jack normally only understood about every sixth word anyway. There was a loud pop then the small box was lit by a dim light. Somehow Mac had moved around the guts of the watch to make a soft small light. Compared to the light they had been it gleamed like a flashlight.

Mac was reaching his hand up a hole in the ceiling. At the end of the wires Jack saw the end of an air vent. Jack's memory fired. He grabbed Mac's shoulder and pulled backward until Mac fell over onto his left elbow. He winced and glared at Jack.

"They have one of those flight recorder thingies up there!" Jack explained a note of panic in his voice. Mac straightened and had to take a deep breath.

"I know, Jack. Don't you listen?"

Jack shrugged, "Not really." Mac's glare would have been visible in complete darkness. Jack held up a placating hand. "It's been a long bitch of a day." Mac nodded, he turned back to the wires.

"As I was saying, I figured they would have another one and would hook it up. They aren't very imaginative. Anyway, I diffused it and…" Mac crouched and reached his hand up into the small hole in the ceiling. He winced then pulled his hand out. Mac held up a ball of explosives as big as a golf ball. Jack grinned. His grin disappeared.

"You do remember we are in a small box with no protection, right?" Mac sighed.

"Yeah, my plan has a few problems." He said, he began working the explosive into smaller balls.

"A few?" Jack asked.

"Well, let's put it this way, the explosion is actually the safe part." Mac said. Jack's mouth dropped open.

"You do know the goal of escaping is to live through the escape, right?"

Mac grinned. "Oh is that the point, would never have guessed." Jack took a breath and rubbed his forehead, suddenly he felt old, and concussed.

"Ok, what's the rest of the plan?"

"We're going to jump off the plane." Mac said matter of factly. Jack took a steadying breath. He reminded himself that this was MacGyver who had saved both of their lives doing some wild things.

"How are you going to make parachutes?" Jack asked. Mac grimaced. He began to move small balls of the explosive around the wall with the peep hole in it. "Mac?"

"Well...I'm not."

"Come again?"

"I'm not. We're going to jump out the flap to the landing gear as we land." Mac said. He began to separate out the web of wires with his swiss army knife. He wiped sweat away from his forehead. Jack realized the box was getting stuffy and hot without the air of the vent. He tasted the olive taste of fear. Mac glanced at him and smiled reassurance. He knew how Jack's mind worked.

"Don't worry we won't suffocate." Mac said.

"No, of course not. We're just going to turn into smears on tarmac." Jack said sitting back. Despite his tone he grinned at Mac. Mac shook his head, smiling as he hooked up the explosives to wires from the ceiling. Jack sat back, the watch light was beginning to dim. Jack was surprised it lasted this long. Jack laughed. Mac looked at him puzzled.

"You really have a pathological need to blow things up, don't you?" Jack said. Mac shrugged. He finished hooking up the last ball of explosive. He sat back with two peeled wires sitting in front of him. Jack figured touching them would set off the explosion. Mac sat back against the wall and closed his eyes. Jack noticed he was breathing heavier than normal. Jack sat alongside him. "Are you OK, Mac?" Mac looked at him. He looked haggard. Up close Jack could see the bloody lines remaining from being hogtied.

"I really could use a vacation." Mac said leaning his head back against the metal wall. He closed his eyes. Jack could see his body relax. Jack scowled. Mac usually had to be dragged on vacation. Icy fingers of worry for his partner crawled up his spine. He forced it down. Worrying would do any good. Jack's gut churned with guilt. There was absolutely nothing he could do to protect his friend from whatever happened.

"Where would you go?" Jack asked. Mac's eyes popped open.

"Sierra Leone!" He exclaimed. Jack frowned. That was random.

"What? Why-"

"No, that's where we are headed." Mac turned to Jack. Jack could feel the excitement throb from his partner. "They need a specific chemical to balance the mixture of their biologic and chemical agent. In my blood they found titanium dioxide...rutile...blood diamonds...it all fits!"

"Whoa, bud. Slow it down for the back row." Mac took a deep breath and spoke slower.

"In my blood they found traces of titanium dioxide-"

"Ok, and…"

"It's the chemical used in white paint. It binds with impurities in the paint. It can do the same thing with other chemicals acting as-" Mac said.

"Glue to hold this nasty ass shishkabob together." Jack said, pleased he understood.

"Exactly. The most common form of titanium dioxide is rutile, which is one of the two main mining exports of Sierra Leone."

"Blood diamonds, being the other." Jack frowned. He remembered seeing pictures of little kids starving and dying while mining the aptly named stone. "But this rotatille stuff must be mined somewhere else too."

"Rutile." Mac said. Jack rolled his eyes. "True, but the other component of their bioweapon is RNA from the ebola virus. No nation is allowed to develop it."

"And Sierra Leone got hit with Ebola three years ago." Jack added.

"Yeah, they were even quarantined for three years. It would give ample time to concentrate and break down the genome of the virus." They sat quiet a long minute considering the ramifications.

"Not many people have the technology or know how to pull that off." Jack said.

"I can think of only one." Mac said softly. Jack could feel him tighten his muscled. Mac's eyes took on a far away look.

"Valhalla." Jack said. Mac nodded and looked down at his hands. Jack could see him fall into memories. Jack felt his own ghost across his mind... _Mac's screams, blood…_ He put his hand on Mac's knee. "But we got them all. Even Shecker, he was the only one-" Mac looked at him, falling tears in his eyes. Jack would have killed everyone in a million mile radius if he could take away the terror he saw there.

"Obviously not." Mac said quietly. Jack had no answer. He scooted closer to his friend. Mac stared off into space for a long minute. Jack was about to say something to distract him when they heard the motor behind them flare louder. There was a loud thunk and whoosh of motors under them. Mac grinned at Jack.

"Showtime." Jack muttered. He watched as Mac touched the wires together. Just before they sparked, Jack tackled Mac protecting him with his own body. He could feel a blast of heat roll over him then bits of metal went flying. He grunted in pain as one dug into the back of his thigh. The concussion hit and Jack blacked out.

"Damnit! Jack! Jack!" Mac grunted under the sudden deadweight of his friend. He grunted and pushed the larger man off him. He grabbed Jack under the arms and awkwardly dragged him back to the rear of the plane. He gasped as the wind from the opening landing gear hatch sucked away his breath. The plane touched down sending Mac tumbling over Jack's limb body. He pushed himself up desperate adrenaline feeding his shaking body. He dragged them both over the open hatch. He dropped Jack and almost fell out of the plane when the brakes squealed in reverse. He caught himself on one of the wheel struts. He could feel the plane slow, but the ground was still moving very, very fast. Mac shook his head and silently vowed to never go near a plane's landing gear again.

He lifted Jack, Hugging him close and jumped.

To say the landing hurt was a vast understatement. Mac screamed as he his the tarmac, forcing himself between Jack and the impact. He felt something break inside and couldn't breathe. They rolled over and over. Mac let go of Jack so he wouldn't roll over his friend. When he stopped moving, Mac tried to get to his feet. He couldn't move, everything was agony. He felt everything go dim, he couldn't breathe. He looked over at Jack who lay motionless about twenty feet from him. He silently said he was sorry for failing his friend. Everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you so much for your reviews! I appreciate everything you guys say. I feel that I have to add a warning here. The rest of this story is going to be very intense. There is vivid description of violence and torture. It will get pretty dark.**

Jack groaned and opened his eyes. He realized that he was being shaken by a gentle hand on his right shoulder. He grinned and rolled onto his back.

"Mac, you did it! I didn't think…" Jack trailed off in shock. A large African man with a kind face was standing over him. He was dressed in a grimy one piece beige mechanic's uniform. Jack realized the man was speaking to him. His head hurt and he felt dizzy. He pushed the man aside and sat up searching around him desperately. He saw Mac lying beside him. Jack felt a brief moment of relief followed by panic. He bolted to his feet. The world swirled around him and everything to turn a sick color of green. Jack felt agony in the back of his thigh, it collapsed underneath him.

The strong calloused hands of the mechanic steadied him. Jack squinted at him trying to parse English out of the lilt of his thick accent.

"Easy, you lost a lot of blood-" The man said. Jack grunted and pushed the man aside trying to lurch to his partner. He managed two steps before hard grey cement and gravel slammed into his face. He still tried to stand, but fell again face first to the ground. He felt himself being gently lifted and laid on rough weathered wood. He was dimly aware of a small boxy white vehicle attached to the flatbed sled he was on.

"Mac...Mac…" Jack gasped trying to turn to see his friend. He was relieved to see the large man gently carry Mac's limp body and place him beside him. Jack sucked in a panicked breath. Mac was weakly gasping for air. His face was grey and his lips were blue. More worrying was the blood running from his eyes, mouth and nose. Jack felt his stomach drop. He felt tears fall.

"Mac, no…" Jack put a trembling hand on Mac's neck. After eight hours, or so it felt, he felt a weak, thready pulse. Jack frowned as it jumped then skipped beats. He looked up at the man desperately. The man smiled.

"No worries, my sister is doctor. I'll get you to her she's not far. " Jack flopped back, but reached out to Mac, catching his cold hands. Not again, please not again. The man patted Jack's shoulder. "My name is Oscar Lupia, don't worry will be ok." The man climbed into the white vehicle and Jack felt it shake then roar to life. He closed his eyes to keep from puking. He turned his head and felt Mac's cold shoulder with his cheek. He grabbed his hand tighter as if he could will his life into Mac, will Mac to be well, that this was all a dream…

Jack hissed in pain, realizing he was being carried by Oscar Lupia into a small round thatched hut.

"No...need doctor...Mac…" Oscar didn't answer he ducked under the small doorway and gently placed Jack on a small military cot. Oscar pointed his finger. Jack followed it. One of the most beautiful women Jack had ever seen was bent over Mac. Jack blinked wondering why he got Oscar and Mac got a runway model. Jack shook his head banishing the thought.

The woman wore a bright red turban on her head. Her narrow neck, flawless skin and long lashes made her look like pictures Jak had seen of Nefertite. She wore native red cloth styled like a form fitting, western gown that both hugged her shapely figure and flowed free around her as she moved quickly around Mac's motionless body. Jack went to sit up, Oscar held him down.

"Easy, Sarana will fix your friend, you will see." Oscar put a hand woven linen blanket over Jack. Jack felt the dizzy pull of unconsciousness, he bit his lip, the pain chasing it to the corners of his vision. Jack forced himself up on shaking arms. He heard Oscar mutter something under his breath, but the man helped Jack sit up. Jack closed his eyes as everything spun around him. After everything settled down, he looked at Sarana who was leaning over Mac pushing on his chest. Mac gasped in air then after an infinite pause he wheezed out a shallow breath. Jack could see the skin over his chest was purple, almost black and the skin was swollen taunt. He also noticed that when he breathed out, a huge chunk of the kid's rib cage on his right side sucked in. Jack knew that was not good.

Jack looked with desperation at the lithe woman leaning over Mac's body.

"How is he?" Jack asked. She looked up with lively brown eyes that offered reassurance. The woman smiled, her face bent into caring lines. Jack instinctively knew she could help Mac.

"It's not good, but I've seen worse. He has crush injuries across his chest. Here, "she indicated the side of his chest out of step with the rest of his breathing, "is a flail chest, my guess is about five ribs are broken and separated from his sternum and chest wall. It will heal by itself given time and wrapping. This, " she indicated the black swollen area on his chest, "is more worrying. He has blood pooling against his heart." The woman frowned and shook her head. Jack could see worry run across her face. She looked at Jack and forced a smile. She said something else, but Jack flopped forward out cold.

Riley was dimly aware of being pulled out of the truck. Maya supported her as they slowly made their way to an unlit house. Everything was blurry and her face felt like a black vortex of pain sucking her brain out. Tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to talk but it felt as if a sponge had been pushed into her throat and was swelling to stopper her throat. Maya helped her up to the door and leaned her against the house beside a screen door. She opened the door and pounded on the wooden door under. Riley's knees bent, she leaned herself against them, trying to stay awake. There were a lot of enemies out there that would be hunting them. They had to…

Riley gasped and put a hand on her side. Her eyes closed. Maya looked at her worried. She paused in her pounding to lift Riley's shirt making sure there wasn't another wound there. Maya saw the puckered red area on Riley's side. She raised her eyebrows.

"You folks really do get into trouble don't you. How long ago were you shot?" Before Riley could try to answer bright lights flooded the house and the stoop. Riley groaned the brightness felt like razors slicing up her brain. Her knees gave out. She felt Maya catch her and heard the woman speak a language Riley had never heard. Riley used the last bit of strength to look up at a tall skinny man with a long ponytail of snow white hair. His face was wrinkled with lines of worry and mirth. He nodded and crossed to Riley. She felt the world tilt as she was lifted and carried into the house. Everything seemed to be floating away. The man had old eyes, eyes that had seen too much, but still there was a flame of life and joy. He reminded her a little of Jack. She closed her eyes and felt her head tumble into the flannel covered arm. He smelled of cheap cigarettes and beer.

"Jack…" Riley whispered as everything faded and floated. A sharp stab into her neck followed by a searing burn in her throat jolted her awake. It was a trap! She swung out managing to clip the man's cheek bone. He stepped back and laughed. Maya pushed Riley back to the cold hard surface she was laying on.

"Easy, easy Riley. Your ok, this is my brother Diving Sparrow. He was a corpsman in Vietnam. He's the closest thing we have to a doc on the res." Riley gasped reaching out to grab the woman's wrist, the burning in her throat made her gag.

"It will hurt for awhile, the moonshine takes awhile to kick in, but it will relax your vocal cords." Diving Sparrow said. His voice was deep and hypnotising. He looked at her with a sorrowful gaze. "I'm sorry about this next part, it's going to hurt like fucking hell but the only thing I have for pain is moonshine and you'd just puke it up and probably die from choking." Riley shot a panicked look at Maya. The other woman looked down at her grimly. She took Riley's hand in her own.

"Try to go somewhere else...in your head." The older woman said softly. Diving Sparrow gently smoothed Riley's hair back from her sweaty forehead. He pressed down. Riley sucked in, she had an image of an unsharpened pencil in the man's hand then her body exploded in white hot agony. She felt like he grabbed her whole face and was smashing it to bits with a tire rod. She bucked as bone ground against bone in her forehead. Tears ran freely down her face. There was a short pause when Diving Sparrow pulled the bloody pencil out of her nose. Riley sucked in a breath tinged with wet blood. She closed her eyes just as the pain exploded again. She writhed, arched her back and screamed. Only a moist gurgle came out of her mouth. Maya winced at the white knuckled grip that was twisting the skin of her wrist bloody. She put her body across Riley's and tried to offer support how she could. Riley wasn't aware of the woman's words, she was trapped in the center of a tornado which thankfully swept her away…

Jack's eyes popped open. He stared up at the flax ceiling a second until memory stirred. He sat up, he felt woozy but not as dizzy as before. He looked down. The metal had been taken from his leg and he could feel the biting teeth of staples. An ace wrap hugged his thigh. Jack sat up. With heart pounding with dread, he turned to look at Mac. A grin split his face as he found himself looking into Mac's calm, heavy lidded eyes looking back at him. Jack jumped to his feet and swayed a second. When it calmed, he limped over to his friend and took inventory.

What looked like a bamboo shunt stuck out of his side and was attached to a black hose the black hose ran into a jar half full of water and another tube went to another jar half full of blood. Enough linen to make Mac look half mummy crisscrossed his chest. Mac was a pay grey Jack didn't like and his eyes had a slight yellow tint to them Jack really didn't like. The last time he'd seen eyes like that his uncle had died of liver failure. Still Mac was breathing easy. Jack took his hand, his blessedly warm hand. Mac twitched his fingers. Jack realized he was trying to squeeze. Jack smiled and squeezed gently.

"How do you feel, kiddo?" Mac's mouth twitched up at the corners.

"Fine unless I breathe." He whispered. Jack couldn't stop grinning.

"Too bad, old son, you're going to be doing a lot of breathing for a long, long, long time like eons long." Jack babbled feeling tears well up in his eyes. Mac frowned.

"We have to get out of here." Mac said softly. Jack nodded looking around them. He could hear Oscar and Sarana talking outside a ways from the door. Jack knew all of them were in trouble. He had no idea how far the Lupia's hut was from the airport, but it wouldn't take Hugh Silverman long to track them down. Jack let go of Mac's hand and began to circle the hut.

"I know we have to find a way of moving you…" Jack trailed off seeing his partner's eyes were closed again. Jack cussed and looked around the hut. Other than the two cots they both laid on there was only a small table with a water basin and basic medical supplies on it. He frowned, what this where the Lupia's lived? If so, why wasn't there any other stuff. It occurred to him that they might be too poor to own anything or maybe this is what passed as a clinic. Jack had seen much worse. He scowled. He couldn't find anything to use as a weapon. He knew Mac would find a hundred, but try as hard as he could, he saw nothing useful.

He turned to the doorway as Oscar ducked in. He grinned at Jack.

"Ah, you are better! Sarana will be so pleased." The man held out a heavy pottery bowl filled with a brown liquid. Jack took it and raised an eyebrow. "It is tea. Sarana said it will help build your blood back." Jack tasted it, expecting it to be bitter and medicine instead it had a strong licorice taste. He shrugged and downed it to Oscar's smiling face. Jack handed back the bowl and looked at Oscar with a grim look.

"I need to talk to you and your sister, we're all in big trouble if we don't get out of here, now!" Oscar laughed. It was deep and rumbled like thunder.

"Oh, friend Jack. We will be fine, never fear." Oscar said. Jack frowned. Sarana glided into the hut.

"Ah, awake at last. How do you feel?"

"Fine…" Jack paused frowning. His mouth was tingling. He watched as Sarana moved over to Mac. She ran a sharp nailed finger gently down the blonde's cheek. Mac's eyes fluttered open. She smiled down at him.

"What an exquisite specimen." Jack's mouth was numb. He took a step and stumbled. Sarana looked up. Gone was any kindness or warmth. She looked at Jack with the dark eyes of an attacking viper. Mac looked at Jack confused, his confusion changed to alarm as Jack fell to one knee. Mac tried to sit up, but he had no strength. His lips were moving. Jack could dimly read his lips yelling his name. Jack fell onto his side, all of his bones felt like wet noodles. His eyes widened as a familiar figure stepped into the hut.

"Freya." Hugh Silverman said in greeting. He bent over Jack and smiled.

"Here he is as promised, Loki." Sarana smiled waving her hand over Jack like Vanna White. Hugh's sharklike smile never faded, without turning from Jack he said.

"And MacGyver is yours, as promised." Jack knew he said it for Jack's benefit. Jack let out a breath. She had saved his life, she must need Mac alive. As always Hugh could almost read Jack's mind. "Oh, Jacky boy, you remember when I said that Mac would be better off dying before he got here? I wasn't lying." He stood up and turned indicating figures behind him. Jack's eyes met Mac's panicked gaze, but he couldn't even move his jaw to speak. Jack tried to move anything, to do anything but he no longer had control over his body.

Mac closed his eyes and turned away as soldiers lifted him none too gently and carried him out of the hut.


	8. Chapter 8

Jack gritted his teeth and lifted his head. Every muscle felt like it had been wrapped into the wrong shape then wrapped around broken bones. He finally could feel his strength return. He blinked. The grey blur of movement around him slowly sharpened into shaped he could recognize. He was in a small room with a curved dark stone roof and walls. They seemed like a heavy night pressing against him. Dangling from the center of the cave roof a single light bulb dangled on an orange extension cord. It was about five feet over his head. He moved his arms. He was in a simple chair that felt like bamboo. He wiggled his butt and it creaked. In front of him was a large screen. In it's reflective blackness he could see Hugh Silverman tilting back a similar chair against the unhewn stone behind him studying him silently. Jack rolled his shoulders and flexed his hands. He was tied by the same ties that they had used on MacGyver. Plastic wrist cuffs. They were easy enough to break if you could get leverage to tear at them with any kind of strength. Hugh knew that as well as Jack did. His arms were tied straight down and held by his elbows and wrists. His feet were tied to the bottom of the front two legs. Jack sat back and forced on a friendly grin.

"So Hugh, what's up?" He said conversationally. Hugh studied him a long moment then nodded. The man smiled.

"So we're going to go for the false bravado, see where we stand pseudo-friendship thing. I like it." He stood up and pulled his chair in front of Jack, his back to the screen. Unlike before the man seemed flat, devoid of any kind of emotion. Jack forced his shoulders to relax and slouched down. Silverman sat backwards in the chair and crossed his arms on the back of the chair. His head tilted to the side as if he was considering what shirt to wear to party. Jack thought it was very likely the man was debating how slow to kill him, and how much pain Jack could really take. Jack's heart thumped. He took a slow breath and carefully kept only a casual friendliness on his face.

"That always was your default, Jack. That's ok. I know you're afraid of what I'm going to do to you, but I know you are more afraid about what's happening to your little friend." The soft voice was creepy. Jack lost the pretense and looked at Hugh, a cold edge few ever saw in his eyes.

"I promise you, whatever that bitch does to Mac is going to only be a shadow of what I'm going to do to you. " Hugh nodded and grinned.

"There's the fire! That's what I'm talking about, right there. Not hatred exactly, but pure black flame. The kind that makes you unstoppable." Silverman sat back looking satisfied. Jack's jaw clenched. Silverman stood up and moved the chair until he was sitting beside Jack, he pulled a small remote from his pocket. "Want to watch a movie?" Jack squirmed in his chair, unable to still the stomping of fear in every heartbeat.

"What have you done to him? Where is he?" Jack's voice elevated a notch, he could feel fire flare in his face. Hugh nodded.

"I understand, he's your kid brother, your son, best friend...whatever all in one. I get it, I do. I used to feel the same sort of thing for you, did you know that?" Silverman looked at him with genuine curiosity. There was no menace in his voice. Jack remained silent. Good guy rule #1 when a villain wants to monologue, let him. Hugh sat back and crossed his legs taking out a smoke. He leaned back and blew a long stream of smoke in Jack's face. "Of course you did, you trusted me like that boy trusts you. He knows you'll be there for him no matter what, no matter what it costs because you value his life so much higher than his own. Admirable, really."

Jack frowned. Hugh sounded sincere. Oddly, it made him much scarier than if he was ranting like a moustache twirling villain.

"I suspect over the years both of you have had people betray you and hurt you, but it never seemed that bad because your relationship was a bedrock, a fundamental unmovable for both of you." Jack squirmed in the chair, making it squeal loudly. "But this wonderful movie you're going to watch is going to teach you a lesson about betrayal." Jack was about to snarl at Hugh, but Hug continued before he could. "Oh, I know you would never betray pretty boy. I really do. I know how loyal and protective you can be. And stubborn." Silverman chuckled. "How do I know that!" He leaned forward putting the hand holding the cigarette on Jack's shoulder. Jack could feel the heat of the burning tip near the corner of his eye. He forced himself not to flinch or look away. "I know you wouldn't ever do anything to betray the kid...but does he?" Jack went to protest but floundered.

"Of course." Jack answered even as doubt crept into his voice. Hugh nodded and sat back. Jack looked at the floor. Mac had a lifetime of betrayal and abandonment, Jack knew it was his biggest soft spot. Even if he knew it in his head, Jack knew there was always a niggling fear that Jack would leave him and never come back. Sometimes it was frustrating that after all they had survived together there could ever be a sliver of doubt, but Jack was fighting against years of pain and broken trust. Silverman puffed on the cigarette a long minute.

"I thought of some of the best tortures to put you through, you know. I mean there are the standards-waterboarding, drugs, 1000 cuts...you know them all. He'll we've been through most of them together, haven't we, Jacky boy?" Hugh sounded like the friend he used to be. Jack didn't think he really knew what hate he was until that second. Hugh saw the look and laughed. He crushed his cigarette under his shoe. "Then I thought of the worst thing I could possibly do to you, and it was allow you to see the second, the very second hope leaves your little friend's eyes." Hugh stood up and leaned over Jack. Rage flowed off him in waves. "I'm going to let you watch the instant the kid gives up hope of his heroic older brother ever coming to get him, the instant he is broken and has no hope left." Jack thrashed in the chair angrily. His face was aflame. Hugh smiled and walked in front of the TV.

"First I have to set the stage. Sarana Lupia isn't like me, "Hugh turned to look at Jack over his shoulder, "like us. She doesn't burn with rage or hate she's more...clinical. To her MacGyver is nothing more than a mouse whose brain she wants to crack open to see what's inside. Valhalla had recruited her father, Sheckter." Jack froze his heart pounding. Hugh turned back to the screen his hand fidgeting along the remote. "I know, apples and trees, right? Only she is more brilliant than he is. The first trial was a crude rendition of what she could decipher from his notes. We both figured it wouldn't work, but it did well enough." Hugh frowned. Jack perked up. Hugh was still furious but at someone else. Jack smiled. He knew Silverman enough to know that tone. He hated any type of authority, someone had ordered his soldiers into the theater and Hugh had hated it. It told Jack two things, one someone else was in charge of the whole project and two he now had a crack to work with.

"Why did you throw away so many men? I know they were bottom basement wannabes but did you really just want to throw them away? I kinda remember you actually giving a damn about the fools who followed you." Hugh lunged as fast as a shark. The chair let out a menacing groan as a solid punch sent Jack's head rocking back. He felt blood flow from a rip in his cheek that impacted teeth. Jack grinned, hardly feeling the pain. Hugh stood emotions twitching across his face. He stepped back taunt as a bowstring.

"They were cut rate, true. It was...unfortunate. But there are so many of us now, it scarcely makes a difference." Hugh turned. He appeared composed, but Jack could see the rigidness of his spine. It was a step. When Hugh turned back to face Jack he had a smug sneer on his face. He walked back to his chair." He crossed his legs and tapped his knee with the edge of the remote. "Sarana got a sample of your partner's blood." Jack blinked in surprise. Hugh chuckled, relaxing into the control he'd regained. "Oh yes, your precious Phoenix Foundation. Did you really think you were untouchable? We know everything about you." He leaned forward. "Does that bother you, Jacky boy?" Hugh studied Jack's face enjoying every flinch of pain. He frowned when Jack smiled back at him. Without a word, Jack slammed his forehead into Silverman's face. The man leapt to his feet his eyes tearing with pain as his crooked nose spurted blood. Jack shrugged.

"You wanted the fire." Jack said. Hugh gave a roar and the world spun with a flurry of punches. Eventually breathing heavy, Hugh stalked back to pick up the remote he had dropped. He dabbed at his bloody nose. Jack shook his head and blinked through blood that seeped from somewhere on his forehead. The moved his jaw and couldn't hide a wince at the flare of pain. Jack gave no other sign of pain, only met Hugh's fury with a knowing smile. There was a flurry of footsteps as soldiers stomped into the cave. Hugh waved them back his eyes never leaving Jack's.

"Well done, Jacky boy." He sat back down in the chair and accepted a towel from one of the soldiers. "Well done." Hugh leaned back and without fanfare turned on the screen.

"MAC!" Jack screamed when he could make out what was on the screen. The video had a split screen, one showed a close up of Mac's face. His eyes were darting around him. Jack could make out the fear, but he could also see the fury. Jack smiled to himself. Stay angry, kid. He silently urged. The other view was much more alarming. Mac was in the same sort of cave Jack sat in. Jack was reassured by that, at least they were in the same mountain, probably a diamond mine, or what did Mac call it? Roatille or whatever mining cave. The camera was close enough to see Mac's entire body. Mac lay on a metal table, his wrists and legs in clamps attached to the table. The metal cuffs looked huge against Mac's lean arms. Pale and shivering in nothing but his boxers, Mac looked like a frog laid out for dissection. Jack tried to swallow his own rage and terror, but he just rattled his chair as hard as he could. It still seemed stupidly solid despite the groaning in the bamboo joints.

Sarana Lupia in green surgical scrubs pulled out an array of surgical lamps which she placed over Mac. Mac squinted against the light. Jack could see his adam's apple bob like a running rabbit. Mac's chest had been unwrapped and Jack could see the black bruise across his chest mar his pale skin like a thumbprint of an angry god. Mac's watched the woman with defiance. No one but Jack would see the blind panic behind his steady blue glare. His chest was heaving. At least the shunt had been taken out. A stapled incision about half a foot long trailed along his ribcage which still marched out of beat with the rest of his chest. The woman stopped to speak to Mac whose eyes widened. He looked up directly into the camera a desperate pleading in his gaze. Lupia bent down and speakers near the TV crackled to life.

"...he can hear you, say hi to your audience, MacGyver." The sultry accented voice purred. Mac licked his lips and managed a crooked grimace.

"Howdy partner, are you as bored as I am yet?" Mac said. His weak voice had a tremble in it, a different type of fear. Jack realized that knowing Jack was watching this made Mac more afraid. Jack pulled his arms until blood oozed from the band's holding him. He would have given anything to banter back to his partner, reassure him, but he knew that was the point. Jack kept his eyes glued to the screen. He could feel the satisfied glare of Hugh watching him. Mac winked. Jack found himself smiling, just a little. With that, Mac reassured Jack that he knew why Jack wasn't answering him.

Any relief evaporated as Sarana pulled closer a table full of various plants, surgical tools and other things Jack didn't recognize, but knew were used only to inflict inhumanity. Mac looked over at the tools no longer able to conceal his terror. Jack felt Hugh move beside him. He glanced over to see the man pulling another cigarette.

"Showtime," the man said softly enjoying himself, "don't you wish we had popcorn?"


	9. Chapter 9

Pain pulled MacGyver from the soft cradle of blackness. He looked up. He blinked through bleariness and realized he was in some sort of military van. Mac searched the inside desperately but there was no sign of Jack. He tried to lift his head, but he was too weak. He closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath, he couldn't. He couldn't get enough air, he began to pant with anxiety.

"Easy, easy MacGyver. Take deep slow breaths, you will feel like you aren't getting air, but you are." The voice was melodic, hypnotising and beautiful. Looking up into the perfect features of Sarana Lupia, Mac knew better than to be fooled into thinking she had his best interests at heart. He did breath as she said. It hurt. He closed his eyes, his body shivering. A warm blanket was spread over him. He looked up at her surprised. She smiled down at him. If she was going for warm or encouraging she failed big time. She looked like a cat watching a mouse run before deciding to play with it. She laughed, a taunt grinding sound. "You think I want to hurt you? Torture you?" Mac tried to school his expression but he couldn't hide the bobbing of his adam's apple. She reached down and gently brushed hair out of his face and stroked the side of his head gently. He felt himself relax, his eyes fall closed...He shook his head forcing himself awake. Mac glared at her. She shrugged.

"No the pain you felt last time...was crude, cruel and ultimately pointless." She moved out of his line of vision. Mac pushed down his confusion and dread. He took in his surroundings. The van was tricked out for medical transport. He was hooked up to IV fluids hanging from a hook in the roof of the van. The liquid in it was a bright yellow. Machines were wired to him, he saw a crude ECG and automatic blood pressure cuff. Squinting at the readings, he realized they actually weren't that bad. He managed to move a hand to his chest. He groaned feeling the bloated bruised area where broken ribs sawed back and forth out of tempo. Warm, soft hands gently took his hand and put it back down to his side. Lupia was talking into a radio. Mac didn't recognize the language although he thought it was swahili or mende.

"Wh...what...do you want?" He asked. She finished speaking and set the radio aside. She moved the blankets aside from his chest. She frowned.

"I have to take out the chest drain. I got most of the blood drained from your chest cavity, if I take much more you will have lost too much." Her dark eyes softened as she met his gaze. "I'm sorry, this will be unpleasant." Mac couldn't decipher her tone. Was she actually upset for him or happy it was going to hurt him? He genuinely didn't know. All thought was lost as his side exploded. He tried to gasp in air, but that only hurt more, and he couldn't breathe. Everything became a sickly buzz swirling around him. He began to gag. He was aware of strong hands gently tilting him as he heaved. He closed his eyes. There was no way for him to get away from the pain, he wished he could pass out. His face was gently washed with a cool cloth. Mac leaned into it, desperate for any kind of relief. An oxygen mask was placed over his face, easing his breathing. He could feel the stabbing gnaw of stitched being made somewhere inside his flesh then the serpentine biting of staples. Finally, it was over. He closed his eyes and drifted off into the swaying cradle of darkness.

Time passed. It could have been an hour or a year. Everything was distant. Mac felt hands move him. He had no choice but to let them. At least he hurt less, the blazing agony had dimmed to flashes of stabbing ache. The entire time, the hypnotising sultry lilt kept talking to him. Mac wasn't sure if Sarana was talking to him, recording her life for posterity or lecturing a class of invisible students gathered around them. He forced himself to focus on it to keep himself awake, to center him.

"Sheckter was reckless, sloppy. He enjoyed the pain he caused, but there was no point to it, no benefit. Do you remember me, MacGyver?" Mac's eyes opened into slits. He frowned. She knew him? "No, I didn't think so. We were both much younger then. Sheckter was my father." Mac's eyes flew open in alarm. Sarana smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'm not my father. I watched what he did. I was going to free you, but then I realized how special you are. Not only did you survive, you escaped and destroyed the original Valhalla. You have no idea how amazing that was to me." She leaned back and had a faraway look in her eyes.

"Y...y...you're sick." Mac managed to gasp.

"Do you really think so? Hmnm. You might be right, I don't know. Can sick people diagnose themselves?" She leaned over and lifted another bag of IV fluids. She quickly swapped this one out for the one over Mac's head. "You inspired me. I went on to get a wonderful education."

"Harvard?" Mac whispered sarcastically. Sarana laughed.

"Cal Sci, actually. Unlike you, I graduated with honors in biochemistry. I returned to Africa to live with my mother's people a distant family of the Fang. They are a good people, incredibly generous of heart. If I had been raised by my mother so many things would have been different." Sarana shrugged and added another blanket over Mac's trembling form. Mac fought the constant weight of exhaustion with a mule stubbornness that Sarana took as interest. Mac didn't really care about the woman's past, he only knew that if she stopped talking or if they arrived wherever they were going nothing good was going to happen.

"My mother was a _Bwiti_ priestess. She helped many people heal, not just from physical ailments but psychological ones. They use the bark of the _Tabernanthe Iboga_ tree to place troubled people in trances. The patients then hallucinate their worst traumas, then the tribe around them work to help them back from them, and heal the deepest wounds inside them" Sarana sighed and looked down at Mac with a distant smile. "It's amazing really. Now they are looking at Iboga as a treatment for addiction in the west." Sarana looked at a slender silver watch on her wrist. She bent and moved the dial on the IV the steady dripping became a constant stream. "We'll be there in about fifteen minutes." She said cocking her head to listen to the crackling radio. She sat back.

"Then came the Ebola. My mother killed herself trying to save our people from the disease, but the Ebola is one of the most efficient killing organisms in existence. Next to that, man is just a monkey trying to figure out how to get up a tree." Sarana frowned and sighed fondly. "My parents met back in the '50s when the original Valhalla project was began. My mother was advisor to my father about the hallucinogens found here. Originally the project was to find a way of controlling people chemically or breaking prisoners. My father was not a normal man, as you know. He was brilliant, but a bit off morally." Mac snorted at that understatement. Sarana laughed.

"He lost perspective. He bought the CIA's paranoia about the Red Menace a little too literally. He wanted to kill Russians and a lot of them. After the cold war ended, he really went around the bend. He and the others went rouge. He discovered the binary binding formula, but didn't have time to perfect it. I finished his work as a matter of honor."

"T..to murder…"Mac wheezed. Sarana frowned.

"No, that's what Odin and Loki want it for. They were going to take over the world one way or another. I don't care about politics, I care about the work, the original work. I have seen many people die, MacGyver. Ebola is a very nasty way to die, very messy and harsh. So many died, then the three year quarantine...the people of my country have an incredible resilience. Civil war, ebola and then to be completely cut off from the outside world...it was a hell you couldn't imaging in your worst nightmares, MacGyver."

"Valhalla was resurrected by your own government." Sarana smiled at Mac's horrified surprise. "A faction high in the government began a fourth column. They were tired of how money and power controlled your country. They wanted to take it over from inside, fell the rotten tree gently instead of an outright civil war. They wanted to control the binary process so they could genetically target certain enemies within the US borders. They had quite a recruitment drive, I hear. I don't care about all that. If I gave them a functional weapon and delivery system, then they would allow me unlimited resources to seek answers." The van began to slow and make turns telling Mac they were arriving at, wherever. His throat seemed to stick with dryness.

"They care about power and countries, I want to know the answer to a much more important question. History is full of disasters, atrocities...you can not walk this world without stepping in the unmarked grave of millions of genocide victims. So dying does not surprise me, giving up, surrendering is easy. What interests me is why people survive? Why do people keep going when they are clearly beaten? I want to know what keeps people from breaking." Sarana ran a long fingernail along Mac's cheek. He flinched away.

"Then I met you, I knew you were special in the lab. The things my father did to you, and yet still you joked with your friend. Amazing really. After we infiltrated Phoenix and I read the details of your file. What you have survived…" She twirled a strand of Mac's blond hair studying his face. "You have no idea how special you are. The genius inside that mind that can create so many things, think of so many solutions...how dark it must be in there?" Sarana sat back as the van slowly came to a stop. She leaned forward and took the IV fluids from the ceiling and laid them on Mac's chest. She spoke quickly to the radio. Mac closed his eyes as the bright African sun burst through the van's doors as they were opened. There was a bustle and he was lifted onto some sort of gurney. Sarana tucked in the blankets as he began to shiver. He began to breathe faster, panic crawling up and down his skin.

They entered some kind of cave, probably a mine. As he was wheeled down a low hanging but sizeable corridor Mac passed rows of soldiers and grimy faces of emaciated children. They eyed Mac with eyes empty of hope. Mac gritted his teeth. He would do everything he could to save them. The thought came with a small fire, a tiny glimmer of strength. Then he was wheeled next to a steel table. Mac frowned closing his eyes as the blankets were torn away with the bandages and remainder of his clothes. At least they left him his boxers, he told himself.

The table was frigid to his skin and he was soon shuddering with cold. He tried to fight as hands grabbed his hands and ankles, but he had no strength. He opened his eyes at the sickening click of shackles closing and felt the weight of them pin him to the table. Mac desperately tried to sit up, but pain in his chest slammed him back to the indifferent metal.

He closed his eyes and forced himself to remain calm, or at least not give into the blind panic gibbering across his brain. He heard a squeak and a second later bright lights glared down at him. He turned his head and slowly blinked getting use to the assaulting stimuli. He looked up they were surgical lights. He felt himself warm a little under their glare. Sarana smiled down at him.

"Feel better?" She said. He glared at her. "I know you have been wondering what happened to your friend." Mac swallowed with dread. "I don't know what Loki's plans are for him, but he did ask that I hook up that." She nodded up to a pair of cameras looking down at Mac. Mac's eyes widened. It didn't take a genius to figure out Hugh Silverman's plan. Sarana bent down. "He also said to tell you that he can hear you. Say hello to your audience, MacGyver." Mac looked up and saw red lights blur into life above him. Mac forced the best smile he could. He had to reassure Jack that he was fine.

"Howdy partner, are you as bored as I am?" He drawled. In normal times, he knew Jack would chide him about his mocking Texan drawl. He had no idea what condition his friend was in. He got no response and told himself that there was no way Hugh would let Jack talk to him. Mac closed his eyes, he knew what this would do to Jack. He tried to move, but was pinned like an upended turtle being boiled for soup. He looked up at the camera with as much defiance he could muster, and winked. He was distracted by Sarana arriving with a cart. Mac could only just make out some of the implements on the cart. It took everything in him to not scream. His body began to shake as tension twisted his muscles painfully into spasming bunches. Sarana, now in green surgical scrubs, put on a surgical mask and pulled one of the surgical lights closer. She put a gloved hand on his bare chest.

"Easy, easy MacGyver. I'm not going to torture you. I don't want to hurt you." She paused reaching over to the table and lifted what looked like a five inch fire red thorn with a black tip. She studied him a long moment, moving her hands across his body. She palpated his shoulder and nodded. Her eyes met his. She pulled hair away from his eyes and studied his face a long moment. At that minute, Mac knew one thing for sure. The woman was absolutely bat shit crazy. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to unmake you." With that she smoothly stabbed the thorn into a nerve cluster above the joint of his shoulder. Mac's body arched back as an inferno of burning pain exploded throughout his whole body. Mac leaned his head back and screamed.


	10. Chapter 10

Mac felt like he was being waterboarded with lava. His eyes kept rolling back in his head and he had a weird wavy feeling like he was an unmoving boat on a tempestuous ocean of searing heat. He forced his eyes open. He looked up, or was it down? Mac really had no idea if he was still on the steel table or pinned like a bug to the ceiling. Sarana's voice was an incessant drill grinding and grinding inside his skull.

"Interesting feeling isn't it? Kind of like the agony of being burned alive and feeling of icy numbness at the same time. It's an incredibly rare plant called _Kifo Kiso,_ I met an old pygmy who told me this plant was a myth, a…"

"P...please…" Mac begged, working hard to move each individual muscle in his mouth to make speech. "P...p…"

"Mac?" Sarana asked. Mac shook his head and forced his eyes to stop rolling and focus on her face.

"Please. Shut. The. Fuck. Up." He managed to gasp out before the fiery ocean around him rolled through him again.

Jack grinned. Hugh Silverman busted out a guffaw. Jack stretched back in his chair, he pulsed his hands into fists then unwrapped them to keep feeling in them. He rolled his shoulders and his neck. He had felt every scream tear through his bones like lightening. Mac had gone quiet after the witch had put those ugly thorns in all of his sensitive pressure points. Jack sniffed wondering when he had begun crying. He looked over to Hugh who was shaking his head. Silverman's nose was swollen and his lip stained with dried blood.

"I tell you this, Jacky boy, he's got spunk, gotta give him that.." Hugh said.

"You have no idea." Jack replied with obvious pride, and this time a tiny fraction of hope. Hugh ran his fingers through his hair. He sat down and and leaned back.

"Settle in, Jacky boy. This is the good part. Hey, do you want popcorn? I think I do…" Jack closed his eyes and forced it down. He mentally placed another black mark on the bill Hugh was wracking up. Jack forced himself to keep watching, but continued flexing his arms and squirming in his chair.

Sarana smiled. "You really are unique. I used the _Kiso Kiso_ to take away your body." She went to the table and lifted a mortar bowl. She had put in chunks of something that looked like some kind of grub and had mashed it to powder. She tilted the bowl and blew through pursed lips. A small cloud of powder blew into Mac's face. Mac tried to move his head to the side, but he couldn't. He gagged and blinked his eyes. He felt himself literally sink into the metal of the table, or the ceiling of the cave...fall into a deep floaty black hole…

"Now I will take your mind." Sarana cooed softly as she petted MacGyver's sweaty wet hair.

 **Qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq**

 _MacGyver stood beside his body. He felt a sort of odd curiosity. The table he was on wasn't steal anymore but a mirror, a blank mirror...the cavern around him was a circle of mirrors reflecting emptiness again and again into infinity. He walked up to one and put his hand out. He pulled it back in pain. His hand was burnt black. He shook it and a fetid smell of burnt flesh and ash clouded around him. Black char began to creep up his arm, an ember flared to life. Mac screamed and beat at it with his other hand, which promptly caught on fire. His flesh squeaked like styrofoam as it darkened then crumbled away. He kept screaming until his face flared like magnesium and melted away...everything tasted like death, the kind of death that clings to your tongue...something more than smell, something that seeped in...until blown away like ash…_

 _MacGyver stood beside his body. He was twelve lying crosswise on his bed reading_ _ **Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.**_ _Mac smiled down at his younger self. He was practically vibrating with excitement. The story had taken over, he was completely lost in the story, going to school with Harry and Ron…The book was a gift from his Dad. He had begged and begged, he was turning twelve tomorrow, and just had to have the book. His dad had smiled and rustled his son's hair affectionately, sure bud, go ahead, you only turn twelve once...I''ll be home tomorrow with your real present anyway...you're going to love it, Angus..."Angus, the bus is here. Angus!" His dad bellowed. Mac turned. He could see the shoulders sag. The slow regret as he left the story and was dragged back into the daily horror of Mission City's Middle School. He walked feeling the weight of each step...the bus was hot stuffy, clinging to him like steam in a jungle Everyone around him seemed to be melting blobs howling at him, Mac was drowning, he reached out to open the window...he was trapped...Hands grabbed him...he felt hot treacle swallow him from his legs up...slowly...then freezing...he watched out the window as his father waved goodbye and turned to walk away...Mac screamed out for him...but couldn't move as the air hardened around him...he could only see his Dad's back as he walked away...farther and farther away... Dad! Dad! Jack! Jack..._

 _MacGyver stood beside his body. He pounded on the door of Mr. Erickson's lab, he could see Bozer and Mr. Erickson laughing inside...the lab was warmly lit, welcoming...Angus looked behind him...His heart beat like a drowning bird in his chest...he pounded harder on the door...please, please they were almost here...please...please...let me in...please...Angus turned and ran...the corridors were full of students, he darted around and through them with desperation...Penny stood with her back to him, talking with her friends...desperately he stopped and grabbed her...Penny please...He whirled her around...her face was broken into pieces like a bloody mirror held together with duct tape...she smiled at him sweetly…"don't you think you've done enough already, Angus?" She pulled free from him and turned back to her friends...He turned to run, Jack wearing a lettered school jacket grabbed him and pulled him into the chaos of people around him...Mac grinned breathing in relief...Jack! Everything was going to be...Jack smiled, "Later, Dude, got places to see." He turned and threw Mac through the door to the cafeteria...Mac landed hard. He jumped to his feet desperately looking around him. The tables of the cafeteria were where they always were, and the students sat where they always did, but they were frozen, bloated...staring at him, blaming him...He saw a line of windows, he raced to them, they were small, like on a plane… he looked out at the football field...the nuclear blast blew in the windows, Mac managed to grab a sharp edged window pane, his hand was shredded, his skin slowly pulled apart and unravelled...he glanced back...the dead students covered with cobwebs were blown sideways in a whoosh of nuclear wind...always the taste of death...ash…_

 _MacGyver stood by his body. He sat with Smitty and Frankie in a warm bohemian apartment...Mac frowned, this wasn't right...the walls were covered with slick red silk floating in some sort of wind...dripping like blood...Smitty and Frankie sipped from their wine glasses. He went to join them, tell them that he had discovered a new kind of flight recorder...they gave no sign that they knew he was there...he reached down to tap on Frankie's shoulder. His fingers passed through her...skeleton hanging in place before it fell to the ground...Mac steps back, gasping in horror, smitty laughs and drinks his wine and salutes Mac. "That's one way to shut the bitch up."..._

 _MacGyver stood beside his body. He was in a desert. Nothing moved...no wind...nothing else alive as far as the eye could see...he screamed for help...Jack! Jack! JACK!...he was alone...the blue wide sky above him turns to flames, he turns away from a blinding, painful explosion...the desert is black, blowing,..He could see hands reaching out for him from the desert...he sunk up to his knees in the black clinging fine dust...He grabs one...Riley! Bozer! Maddy! They cling, he holds and holds...then they melt away...Cruel grey grit digs at his skin...wears it to blood...to bone...he slumps...he's become a thing...a monster? An infection?...alone...always alone…_

 _He thinks he hears someone call his name...Jack?...but there's no one...alone, no one coming...no one wants him...no one...alone…_

 _MacGyver falls. He stops. Mac closes his eyes and stops…_

And there it was. Jack closed his eyes, his head dropping to his chest. Jack had no idea what Mac had been hallucinating, but he had seen it all in his young partner's light blue eyes. He had seen the happy boy MacGyver, the bullied MacGyver, the ancient hurting twenty-something Mac had been when they had first met over in the Sandbox...he had watched MacGyver be stripped bare layer by layer. His eyes rippled with them...then he had screamed for Jack, looked for him desperately...and Jack had not come. Jack's shoulders slumped. Hugh had won. He had seen the instant, the very second when the final spark had gone out of Mac's eyes, when he stopped waiting, stopped looking...stopped hoping. Jack had screamed and thrashed in the chair with impotence. Now he looked up at Mac's completely blank face. His eyes stared up at nothing, they blinked at regular intervals as if by habit, but Mac was gone. He was curled up hiding in some cold dark corner of his ginormous beautifully frightening vast brain.

"And there it is!" Hugh crowed. He stood clapped around the bowl of popcorn he held in his lap. "That was good wasn't it, Jacky boy. Damn!" He glanced at his watch, "five hours...he lasted for five hours...whew…" And there it was, the instant Hugh recognized his mistake. Jack slowly looked up into his face.

There is a side of Jack Dalton very few have seen. Very few. Jack had thought him dead when he left Budapest. He never showed it to MacGyver or Riley. They only saw hints, shadows that would cross his face only to be offset by an easy joke or soft gaze of his eyes. Even Maddie and Sarah had never seen this side. Hugh dropped his popcorn. He knew this side. He had helped hone Jack into this. Jack's face was devoid of humor or kindness, or even rage or hate. It was cold, clinical, deadly. He arched back and lashed out with his feet. The chair made a loud crack of surrender and Jack fell to the floor among the pile of broken bamboo. He quickly slid his hands out of the nooses that held him. He had been working his bonds the whole time and moving the chair constantly, working the bindings that held the bamboo together. His blood coated skin slid easily from the plastic loops and he was on his feet.

Hugh grinned and went for his gun. He froze when he realized that it was in his jacket. His jacket hanging over his chair ten feet away behind Jack. He had forgotten it in his excitement. Jack, this Jack, hadn't. He moved with the speed and grace of a panther, lifting one of the chair legs and headed for Hugh.


	11. Chapter 11

When he was coming up in Delta, one of his instructors had said that the key to winning a fight came down to motivation. Looking at Hugh, MacGyver's screams and vulnerability playing frame by frame through his mind, Jack was highly motivated. When they had sparred, Hugh always won. Part of the reason was he always took the fights more seriously than Jack was willing to. Jack had always pulled back because Hugh had been a friend, a brother. The tiny flame of fear dancing in Hugh's eyes made Jack smile. There would be no holding back. None.

Hugh came in with a fast flurry of punches. Jack blocked most of them, a left cross made him shake his head and back up.

"Always did miss that right cross, Jacky boy." Hugh said. Jack didn't answer, he took another step in retreat. Hugh smiled and followed him, swinging a right haymaker. Jack blocked it with his left arm, wrapped the chair leg behind the joint and twisted his body into Hugh's arm. Hugh's elbow was bent back and snapped. He began to slump to the ground. Jack held on to the broken arm and lashed out with his left elbow catching Hugh's jaw breaking it and pulverizing many bones in Hugh's face. Hugh's scream of pain was little more than a bloody gurgle.

Jack let go and the man fell to one knee. Hugh fell onto his back and kicked Jack's bad leg. Jack grunted, letting the pain fuel him. He too fell to one knee, bringing up the chair leg. He slashed across Hugh's neck at the right angle to snap the man's left collar bone. Hugh was no quitter, he went to strike Jack's face with his right boot. Jack wove back enough so it hit the side of his head with less force. Jack still saw stars. He fell back on his ass. Jack forced himself into an awkward backwards roll over his right shoulder. He came up in a crouch and caught Hugh's leg on the return swing. He bent his hip in on the outside of the knee. Hugh gurgled loudly as the knee snapped like a wishbone. Jack stood up over Hugh and studied him. The man was broken. Terror flashed in Hugh's eyes.

"Y...y...you owe me...you...promised…" Hugh gurgled weakly. Jack smiled raised his boot and slammed down on Hugh's abdomen. The man's eyes widened in agony and a bloody wheeze was all he could manage. Dying by an abdominal bleed took hours and was excruciating.

"I lied." Jack said shrugging. He dropped the chair leg and retrieved Hugh's gun. He checked the load, full. He racked in a round. Time to open a can of Texan whoop-ass. He thought. He looked around the room. He knew outside the door were many soldiers, too many for him to take on in a straight fight. His gaze fell on the single lightbulb dangling in the center of the room. He pulled Hugh's chair over and climbed and jumped bringing the light and it's wires down. He landed silently and pulled the light as close to the door as he could. He carefully placed it on the ground. He carried over the back of his broken chair and unwound one of the long strings of bamboo that had held the chair together. It was thin, sharp and about 18 inches long. Jack lifted the heaviest part of the chair and lifted it.

No, he amended to himself. It was time to open a can of Jack Dalton Whoop-Ass with a side of MacGyver. He threw the chair. The large screen shattered with a crash. Jack went to the light bulb, crouched and gently tapped it on the stone floor. It cracked like an egg, the glass falling away leaving a dimly glowing filament and jagged edges. Jack smiled grimly and waited. The first soldier through the door got the homemade taser in the testicles. He screamed and fell. The second got the broken edges in the thigh. He stayed on his feet and lifted his carbine. In the complete blackness the man panicked and let off a long round. Jack hugged the floor. The bullets ricocheted with dull pings. Several hit the growing number of soldiers framing the doorway. They lost all control and the cave was full of a shower of bullets.

Jack covered his head and winced as the echoing bedlam numbed his ears and rattled his already sore head. He really hadn't expected this undisciplined over reaction, but he'd take it. Dodging legs and boots blindly, wincing when his gun arm got stepped on, he managed to make it to the doorway. He shoved two soldiers aside, one turned to punch the other and they fell against the wall above Jack. Jack ducked and caterpillar crawled out into the hallway. The well lit hallway. He looked up into the startled faces of soldiers running into the melee. Jack didn't try to rise, he rolled on his side and fired taking a breath to aim. He hit one for one. The soldiers at the back got the message after several of their comrades fell dead or wounded to the stone floor. Jack grunted as a boot from the fighting pair above him nailed his kidneys. He instantly felt nauseous. He pulled himself awkwardly into the corridor and swayed to his feet. Bullets began to ping all around him, he fell to his knee as a bullet hit the front of his bad thigh. He cried out in pain and landed on a fallen soldier's carbine. That's going to leave a mark, he thought as he felt skin tear and blood flow.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he rolled coming up with it in his fists. He didn't pause to consider the burning pain of his leg, or allow it the luxury of failing him. He launched into a fast run, coming out of the cave with a low roll. He again stayed low, pivoting and firing in controlled bursts. He kept moving as he fired. The soldier's again panicked and fired blindly. Jack shook his head, kind of offended by their ineptness. He pushed himself to his feet much slower than he wanted to. He double-tapped a soldier also crawling to his feet. Jack bent and grabbed two carbines. After checking their loads he slung one over his shoulder and held the other ready. He stayed to the shadows as he crept forward.

The caves became smaller and darker as he crept forward. A single intermittent row of lightbulbs hung above him. He leaned on the wall, pausing to shake his head. He felt like cotton was shoved deep into his skull and dangled out his ears. Or was that his brains? He stopped and closed his eyes taking a breath. Jack could feel the adrenaline of the past few minutes ebbing. He thought of Mac tacked to the table, what was that evil bitch doing to him? Motivation. He cracked his neck and stilled, listening. Coming from in front of him and behind him he could hear the dim thud of boots and shouting. Jack almost laughed. Amateurs, they were acting like security guards instead of soldiers. As many people as Hugh had recruited, Jack realized very few were probably actual experienced soldiers.

Jack felt a whisper of touch behind him, he whirled and cussed as his bad leg gave out. He managed to bring the carbine up as he fell to one knee. He froze finding himself face to face with the terrified face of a tall sickly thin boy. Jack took a steadying breath.

"That's a great way to get yourself dead." He said softly. The kid looked at him blankly, probably didn't speak English. The boy moved to Jack's side and helped him to his feet. He pulled Jack to a dark corner. He pushed him forward. In the blackness, Jack felt the opening to a small cave, a very small cave. He laid flat and crawled into the cave. The boy crawled behind him. The cave was barely large enough for Jack to fit and the air was stifling. While not normally given to claustrophobia, Jack felt like he was in a coffin. He forced himself to breathe slower and closed his eyes moving by feel. He gritted his teeth fighting fatigue, pain and fear dragging himself forward inch by inch. He pictured Mac, the times the kid saved his life. The times Mac had sacrificed himself to help others. Motivation. Inch by inch, Jack painfully pulled forward.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sarana hummed to herself as she pulled the long red thorns from Mac's body. Each one left a red raised welt with spiderwebs of red radiating out from the center. Mac closed his eyes and didn't notice. She carefully laid the bloody thorns in a plastic case. She opened the shackles. Mac's wrists and ankles were red and raw. When he was free Mac curled into a ball on his side. Sarana covered him with several blankets and gently pulled his wet hair out of his face and smoothed it down. Mac curled into a smaller ball. Lupia smiled and sat beside the table with an open file folder, she jotted down notes.

Suddenly alarms started to bellow and the large cavern outside the cave door became a beehive of shouting and boots stomping, she heard the roar of the military engines thrum through the stone walls. She lept to her feet. Oscar came running in toward her.

"What is it?" She demanded.

"Dalton escaped. Loki is dead." Oscar panted.

"The processing plant?" She asked. Oscar shrugged. She began to thrust tools into boxes. "Hurry, we must get out of here." She said. Oscar paused and indicated MacGyver.

"What about him?"

"He comes with us." She said.

"But…" He asked. Sarana silenced him with a glare.

"My research isn't finished. Go load the van, hurry."

When something touched Jack's bleeding hands, he squawked in surprise. He looked up as a light flared to life. A small girl with a candle bent before him in another larger tunnel. With relief, Jack crawled from the tight passageway. The tunnel he was in was tall enough he could stand if he hunched at the waist. The only light came from a small candle lamp the girl held. Jack slumped against the wall as the tall boy crawled out beside him. He braced his shoulder under Jack's arm and took some weight off of the older man. Jack shook his head to keep away the cobwebs that seemed to be growing in front of his eyes.

The girl led them down a twisty warren of tunnels. Jack focused on standing and moving. Cold sweat ran down his face. He could feel blood soaking his leg. The girl put a hand on his stomach stopping him from walking. Jack looked down and down and down. They had come out on a ledge no more than a foot wide. Below them was a huge open cavern. Jack looked down on the heart of Valhalla. A loud klaxon blared, figures below looked like ants as they ran along the large cavern. Jack could hear the uproar but couldn't make sense of what everyone was doing.

If the unprofessionalism of the soldiers he'd run into was any indication, he doubted they knew what they were doing. Jack smiled as he looked at the far end of the cavern. He saw a large entryway into another large cavern that was covered by the kind of plastic that covers meat lockers. Behind the plastic, Jack could see a bustle of nerd-types with bio-suites bent over equipment and canisters.

What made him smile was the large cylindrical tanks lining the cavern wall beneath where he stood. Each had a different label, but at least two were labelled flammable. One thing Jack had learned over the years with Mac is that anything that was in a can and said flammable somehow could translate into a bomb. He frowned scouring the rest of the cavern. He didn't see Mac. He paused squinting. He saw Oscar Lupia running to a military ambulance with boxes. Jack turned to the girl. Maybe she spoke English.

"How do we get down there?" He said pointing at himself then down. She frowned and responded quickly. It took two repetitions before Jack realized she was speaking heavily accented English.

"Tunnel there." She pointed along the ledge to another small cave entrance. Jack nodded. He gently pushed away from the boy and leaned against the stone. He quickly removed the strap from his carbine and handed the gun to the boy. The boy took it with a grin. Jack bent and wrapped the strap around his leg. He had to hang his head and catch his breath a long minute to keep from passing out. He forced himself to stand unaided. The boy went to hand back the gun.

Jack waved for him to keep it.

"Go have fun." He said. The boy took it and said something in their own language. Jack ignored that. He bent to the girl. "You have to get you and all your friends out of here. This place is going to go boom-boom." The girl frowned.

"Boom-boom?" Jack pantomimed a blast. Her eyes widened and she talked rapidly to the boy. He answered back and like a goat disappeared along the narrow path at a run.

"You better go too, sweetheart." Jack said. The girl grinned up at him and offered him the small lamp.

"Boom-boom good." She said. He nodded taking the lamp gratefully and nodded.

"Boom-boom, very good." He agreed. She lifted a small hand to his cheek and smeared it with grime, her touch gentle.

"Thank...thank…"She frowned. Jack chucked her under the chin.

"No, thank you, darling." He said. She nodded and was gone in the dark like a spider. He shook his head. He took a deep breath and began inching along the narrow ledge as fast as he could. "Don't look down…" He whispered again and again. He didn't have the fear of heights that MacGyver had, but Jack wasn't feeling overly safe at that moment. He reached the cave and grunted shifting himself into another cave the size of a coffin. Jack moved more quickly with the light. There was a sharp turn then there was a freight elevator. And two soldiers.

Jack gently put the light on the ground. The soldiers turned toward him. He quickly leveled his carbine and shot them. He gathered the light and climbed on the flimsy rig. There was a single switch unit, at child height he thought angrily. He pressed the one on the bottom. It shook, howled, then slowly squeaked into motion. Jack ignored the rocking cart instead taking time to raid the two soldiers. He found ample ammunition for the carbine and even better, three grenades. Jack grinned. He had been wondering how to start the tanks on fire, he figured a grenade would do the job. Assuming it didn't bring the whole cave down. Jack shrugged one of the carbines over his shoulder. He quickly reached the bottom of the cavern. Pandemonium and movement surrounded him. He kept to the shadows but no one seemed to notice him. He straightened, wincing at the pain in his leg and walked as if he owned the place.

He quickly reached the tanks. He frowned, he had no way of coming up with a timer. He figured sometimes the easiest was best. Suddenly there were shouts and bullets started to come at him. He ducked behind a truck, grabbed two grenades pulled both pins and lobbed them at the tanks. He threw himself under the truck and covered his ears with his hands.

Jack opened his eyes. He was flat on his back. The truck above him had been blown onto its side. He had blacked out and blood now ran freely down the side of his face. He fought to his feet and promptly fell back to stone. Everything spun around him. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep a year. He thought of Mac and knew he didn't have much time. If she hadn't already Sarana would be trying to leave with him. With a groan Jack floundered to his feet and staggered down the cavern.

His eyes widened as he took in the sheer scope of the destruction he'd wrought. Broken bodies fanned out from the blast, vehicles were knocked over. The cavern was filling with smoke. He heard a bang and looked up, a large chunk of stone was coming down above him.

Jack dove out of the way as it smashed onto the stone ground. Other stones and cavern entrances were collapsing. Jack realized this whole mine was hollowed out like a termite nest. It was probably going down layer by layer. A thought occurred to him. On the far end of the large cavern the doorway to the processing center was coming down. Jack felt a cold shiver slide down his spine. Would the binary agent be set free? Had he just gassed everyone for miles?

Whoops. He thought grimly. Jack forced the thought away, he wasn't dead yet and maybe the devices would be destroyed and buried.

Either way he picked up his pace and lurched forward as fast as he could searching cavern by cavern. He stopped panting. He knew he couldn't keep running. His eyes lit up. He saw the small white vehicle Oscar had originally brought them in. The wooden trailer was unhitched. Jack reached it and painfully climbed in it. He was going to try hotwiring it when he saw a large red button on the dash. He pushed it and the little engine revved to life. Jack let loose a Texan yell and stomped the gas dodging debris, cars, people and equipment as he searched for Mac.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Sarana was knocked to the ground with the loud blast. She sat up as chunks of stones began to rain down on her. Oscar came up behind her and stood her up. She fought to free herself from him.

"Grab MacGyver!" She howled. Oscar tightened his grip and pulled her backwards.

"No time." He grunted. She fought looking at Mac curled up on the table. Stones had begun to rain down on him, so far none bigger than a grapefruit. Sarana knew it would only be minutes before the whole cavern collapsed. She screamed in frustration, then turned and ran alongside her brother. So close, she had been so close…

Jack saw them run for the ambulance. He almost followed them worrying that they already had Mac stowed in it, but when Sarana turned and screamed in frustration, Jack knew Mac had been left behind. He whipped around the wheel. He saw a curled up form unmoving under blankets. Dread chilled him as he squealed to a stop beside Mac. Jack winced as a stone from the ceiling landed on his shoulder. He looked up to see a large crack growing. He ran to his partner. He rolled Mac's limp body over. Lifting his friend with a grunt of pain, he awkwardly carried him a few steps to the small cart. The seat was small, but there was enough for two. He climbed in behind the wheel and put one arm around Mac leaning him close to him. Mac's head flopped onto Jack's shoulder. Jack whipped the small vehicle around and headed out of the cavern.

Jack could almost feel each second tick by. He dearly wished they were not on a glorified golf cart, but it was handy going around the multitude of obstacles. He squeezed Mac's shoulders.

"Almost there, Mac. Hang on, bud." He said softly. Mac gave no indication he'd heard, Jack paused not sure which way to go when he saw a long string of kids scurrying along a narrower cavern. He turned the wheel and followed them. The cavern was barely wide enough for the cart to get through, and Jack had to duck low. He put his arm over Mac's head hoping to protect it a little. He winced as a good chunk of flesh scraped away a couple of times, but didn't slow. He could hear huge crashing behind him and the cart jumped sideways into the wall when there was a pair of explosions. Jack could feel the air thicken with smoke and stone grit. The entire mine was coming down.

Jack suddenly found himself in bright light driving across sand. He squinted trying to get his eyes use to the brightness. Suddenly the cart turned sideways sliding in the sand and there was no ground under them. Jack reached over and clung to MacGyver as they started tumbling end over end down what felt like a mountain.


	12. Chapter 12

**OK folks, here we are on the final swing. No more cliffies, promise. LOL. Thank you for reading, and especially for reviewing. I am new to writing fanfiction, and any feedback helps. We have had the hurt now for the comfort. Two, possibly three more chapters to go. Hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have writing.**

Maddy had a policy to never worry about her agents while they were in the field, they were professionals, well-trained, even when they have been out of contact for almost a week...Maddy snorted not buying her own bullshit. She fought the urge to pace as she watched her armed agents scour the vast underground base they had found under the neighborhood where they had fought at the theater.

It had not been completed, the base evidently being made piece by piece as each house was bought, each store driven out. They had found a long list of names of people that had been recruited by this new Valhalla. Maddy was coordinating with virtually every law agency to try to ferret them out. It seemed like every time they pulled out a branch they found another root.

"Ma'am, I think we may have something." One of the agents said showing a half burnt pile of computer parts. Maddy smiled. "Have that packaged and sent here." She glanced at her watch. Riley had finally arrived in LA last night and had spent the night in the hospital. Maddy knew that it would be at least another hour before docs did their rounds. She was sure Riley would be on their heals demanding to be released the second they hit the floor. Maddy paced her arms crossed across her chest.

Where the hell were Jack and MacGyver? There was no record of the plane leaving South Dakota and no flight plan filed, thanks no doubt to airport controllers who were turned. Nothing had shown up at the bunker indicating where they could have been taken or any way of finding out where Valhalla kept their supply of God knows what type of weapons. They literally could be anywhere in the world or...Maddy slammed that door shut. She knew they would be fine, they would be...she would get them home.

And who was in charge of all this? Who was the mastermind, Odin? Maddy shook her head and smiled grimly. Why were nutjobs like this always into Norse mythology? She figured Wagner had a lot to answer for. She sighed crossing to the control center. All of the agents in the room were working frantically as they had been day and night since this whole mess had gone down. She asked for any leads, nothing yet, nothing, nothing...Maddy took a deep breath and tried to think of a new angle, a new...anything.

"Ma'am?" A woman held up a phone to her. Maddie took it with a raised eyebrow. "It's Bozer." The woman said softly. Maddie closed her eyes. She could hear his panicked voice before she lifted it to her ear. She had debated whether to call Wilt or not. There was nothing he could do, so she hadn't. Maddy knew it would only be a matter of time before he had tried to contact the team and would know something was going on, something really bad. Maddy cleared her throat and waded in.

################################################

Jack opened his eyes and frowned as he looked up into a brightly colored linen cloth drifting in the breeze above him. It was set up like a tent. He painfully sat up and followed the cloth to the half-buried remains of the white cart they had tumbled down in. Looking around them, he saw that it had been a bluff, they were on the edge of the desert. He moved his leg and frowned. It didn't hurt as much as it should. He saw his pant leg had been cut away and his gunshot wound neatly stitched with large stitches of, Jack leaned closer, of bamboo. The bamboo that he had taken from the chair he'd been tied to. Jack grinned. There was only one person who could have pulled this off. MacGyver sat about fifty feet away. He had pieces of the cart's motor spread in the dirt around him. He was doing something with the tailpipe and the last grenade.

Jack watched him closely. Mac worked slowly. He would pause and stare at what was in front of him as if he didn't recognize it. His body was covered with huge seeping red spots where that bitch had spiked him. His skin around the spots was quickly turning an angry shade of pink. Jack frowned. Mac was still only in his boxers. While cooler than what Jack was wearing, that left a lot of skin exposed.

"Hey, bud!" Jack called. Mac looked up at him. His face was almost expressionless. He didn't answer, merely turned back to whatever he was making. Jack pushed himself up to his feet and fought to keep from falling back down. When the merry-go-round stopped twirling, he limped over to his friend. He could see Mac watching him out of the corner of his eye. Jack moved slower as he saw Mac tense and start to move to push back from him. Jack slowly knelt when he was about ten feet away. Mac froze and stared at him. There was fear there, but also puzzlement and pain-a lot of pain. "Hey, Mac. What are ya doing?" Jack said softly grunting as he sat down. Mac remained motionless a long moment before he returned his attention back to his project. Jack guessed it was some sort of flare signal. "Mac?" Jack said, "Mac?" He slid a few feet closer. Mac appeared not to notice. Jack waited, then slid a few more.

Mac looked up when Jack was just out of arm's length, his breathing fast. Jack froze and sat back, forcing his body to relax. Mac scooted back a foot and he clutched his project to his chest as if it was going to be taken away or he was going to run away with it. Jack slowly leaned back and stretched out on his side talking softly as he did.

"Kid, you did a great job on my leg and the tent. It's been a crazy week hasn't it?" Jack laid back flat on his back with his hands behind his head and made a show of taking a deep breath and relaxing. He pretended to close his eyes, but watched Mac through his lashes. Mac stared at him a long minute, then he slowly put down the pieces of his project and bent back to working on it. Jack felt sweat soak his shirt. They were lucky, this time of year in Western Africa was hot, but not the crisping deadly heat of summer. Still the sun was straight overhead. He waited another five minutes then sat up. MacGyver didn't seem to notice. Mac sat down what looked like a baby rocket launcher and stood up. He looked around him blankly, lost.

Jack slowly stood up. Mac's body twitched and he took a sideways step away, ducking as if he was going to be hit. Jack stood unmoving. Mac slowly looked up at him and frowned, puzzled. Jack took a step forward, Mac took a step backwards, but not a big step. He just watched Jack warily.

"Mac, it's me Jack." Jack said softly. Mac looked puzzled. "Jack, your friend." Mac spun around and began to run away from Jack into the desert. Jack hobbled after him. Mac made it only a few steps before he collapsed onto the sand. He was breathing fast and curled into a tight ball. "Hey, hey, kiddo, easy…" Jack's heart broke as the kid covered his head with his hands and began to rock himself. Jack bent down and gently touched his shoulder. Mac flinched and made a frightened animal sound. Jack removed his hand and sat down beside the kid, not touching him. He closed his eyes, feeling tears sting his eyes. He fought to keep them from falling, but it was a losing battle.

Jack jumped as a hand reached out and touched his face, rubbed at his tears. Mac jerked his hand back. Jack forced himself to move slowly and turned to face Mac. Mac had a puzzled look on his face. He leaned in close studying Jack closely. Jack fought to remain still and silent. Mac slowly pushed at Jack's chin with his hand. He pulled his hand back and stared at Jack. Jack could see pain and confusion cross Mac's face. Jack smiled and held out his hand. Mac shied away, but stopped staring at it. Jack held it palm up. Mac looked between Jack's hand and his face then back to his hand. Jack waited. After a long minute Mac reached out a finger and tapped Jack's palm. Jack still held it out. Mac looked up surprised. He then reached out and felt Jack's hand. He squeezed the fingers and looked up at Jack's face as if he expected Jack to vanish. Jack reached out and took Mac's hand. Mac tensed and Jack was afraid he was going to try to run again, but he didn't. He looked into Jack's face. Mac's bottom lip trembled.

"Mac it's really me. I came for you. I will always come back for you." Jack said softly. Suddenly he was wrapped in a strangling hold as Mac threw his hands around Jack's neck and clung to him. Jack hugged Mac back almost as fiercely, his heart bursting like fireworks.

"Easy, easy, you're safe. I'm here…"Jack said over and over. He touched Mac's head and Mac flinched almost jumping away whimpering. Jack held onto him. "Easy...It's me, Mac." He felt Mac relax, slumping against him. Mac's grip relaxed and Jack felt him falling. He easily caught his partner. He could see the staples on Mac's side leaking a steady stream of blood. Mac's eyes were half closed. Jack eased him to the sand. Mac's eyes closed.

Jack quickly checked him over. The chest wound, while leaking did not look much worse than it had the last time Jack had seen it. The red circles were another story. They were an angry red and looked to be oozing green pus. Jack wasn't sure if this was poison or infection but either way it wasn't good. They were hotter than the rest of Mac's skin. Jack lifted Mac as carefully as he could, swaying himself. Grimacing in pain he limped over to the makeshift tent. He laid Mac out under the shade then returned gathering the thing Mac had made. They were not in a good situation, but it was better than it had been. Jack stretched out beside Mac, he carefully gathered the younger man in his arms. It was much, much better than it had been.

Jack jerked awake at the first scream. He blinked. Mac was curled up in a ball his hands over his ears screaming. Tears flowed down his face, his body shook. Jack sat up and reached out. Mac was hot to the touch. Mac flinched and kept screaming. Jack reached down and carefully lifted his friend into his arms. Mac was gasping for air. His eyes were staring out at the blowing sand around them. Whatever he saw must have been terrifying, Jack thought. He wrapped Mac into a hug and rocked him babbling softly. It took awhile but eventually Mac quieted. He stared at the sand and closed his eyes. Jack slowly let him go. Mac turned to him panic on his face. Jack reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Mac let out a breath and Jack could feel him relax another notch.

The sun was much lower in the sky, it wouldn't be more than an hour or two until dark. It would be cooler than. Jack frowned pondering what they should do. Then Jack heard a distant motor. He slowly disentangled himself from MacGyver. Mac leapt to his feet and lifted the thing he had made. He dashed away from the cloth covering them, pulled and twisted something and the grenade was launched. It sailed up and exploded just in front of a helicopter. Jack winced as the helicopter twisted and turned in the air before straightening and slowly landing on the bluff above them. Mac watched it, turned to look at Jack and smiled. He slowly set down the grenade launcher.

"Bye." He said softly, his shoulders drooping as he turned to walk off alone into the desert. Jack blinked.

"What? Mac? Mac? What the hell.." He saw faces looking down at them from the top of the bluff. Jack wasn't sure, but he thought they were Sierre Leone police. He hesitated, could they be with Valhalla? He realized there really weren't many options. He waved at them and yelled. They waved at him. Jack then turned and ran after Mac. Mac hadn't gotten far, his knees gave out. He kneeled on the sand staring blankly into the emptiness around him. Jack slid to a stop beside him. "Mac, hey bud…" Mac's eyes closed. Jack caught him before he face planted. Jack held him. "It's going to be ok." Jack said.

It turned out that the helicopter held legitimate policemen who had come to investigate the mine explosion. They managed to life flight Jack and Mac to the hospital in Freetown. Jack demanded to be kept with Mac, but the doctors refused. Jack had to tell their story three times before they would let him call Maddy.

"Thank God, Jack we've been so worried." Riley said. Her nose was still swollen and bruises lined the bottoms of her eyes. Jack smiled.

"So was I."

"Where's Mac?" Bozer asked. Jack's serious expression worried them all.

"Jack?" Maddy asked. Jack told them everything.

"Well bring him home, we'll get him back to himself." Bozer said. Jack smiled.

"I'm going to do my best. He's only said one word to me, nobody seems to know what to do about the shit that bitch gave to him…" Jack's voice began to raise with his frustration. He stopped himself and was going to continue on when he heard screaming. Jack dropped the phone and took off running. He shoved through nurse's and doctors. He arrived at a small treatment room. The orderlies tried to block them, but he pushed by them. He slowed. In the middle of the room was a medical examination table. Jack blanched. Mac was curled up in the corner of the room, his hands over his head rocking back and forth screaming. The doctors were on the floor in front of him trying to calm him down.

Jack pushed himself alongside them. The head ER doctor looked up at him with a grim face. Jack knelt down. The doctor nodded at him and indicated to the others to back away. Jack

focused on Mac.

"Hey, bud, easy, hey…" He reached out and touched Mac's arm. Mac screamed and pulled it back as if Jack had cut him with a knife. Jack drew back and shot the doctor a worried look. Mac felt like he was on fire.

"We need to get his fever down." The doctor said. Jack nodded, he crouched low trying to meet Mac's gaze. It took awhile, but Mac slowly looked up. He started to smile, but stopped his eyes going blank with grief. Jack could see him fold into himself. Jack reached out and grabbed one of Mac's hands. Mac stared at Jack's hand puzzled.

"See, it's me, Mac." Mac looked up at Jack cautiously. Jack smiled and nodded. "It's really me. I'm here. You're safe…" Mac leapt forward and clung to Jack. Jack grunted and looked over at the doctor who nodded. Slowly Jack stood, lifting Mac with him. Mac swayed. Jack ducked under one of his arms and steadied him as he limped with him following the doctor.

They walked into a regular hospital room. The doctor examined Mac moving slowly and talking gently. Mac clung to Jack like a barnacle. He watched the Doctor with terror. Mac's breathing was ragged. Even with Jack there, Mac began to cower and scream whenever they tried to bring in IV equipment or take him for an x ray. The doctors did manage to get a swab of the ugly sores.

After the doctor left, Jack sat Mac down on the edge of the bed. Mac swayed, but fought to stay awake. Jack gently laid him down. Mac's eyes closed. Jack went to wet a towel. He put it against Mac's head. At first he leaned into it, then his eyes shot open and he was scurrying across the bed away from Jack. Jack backed off. He walked across the room and ran the towel across his own face. He was exhausted and frustrated. What had that bitch done to Mac? How were they going to get him back? Jack sat in a recliner against the wall. Mac watched him a long minute before returning to bed. Jack pretended to close his eyes and sleep although he still watched Mac. Mac sat watching him a long minute. Mac stood up took his blanket and layed it across Jack's lap before climbing into bed. Mac curled up into a small ball facing Jack. Jack waited until Mac was asleep before opening his eyes and watching his friend.

Mac twitched in his sleep and jumped awake at any sound. Occasionally he whimpered. He put his hand close to his mouth, just shy of sucking his thumb. Jack rubbed tears threatening his eyes. Mac began to gasp for air and his eyes opened wild. He put his hands to his head. Jack decided enough was enough. He crossed to the bed and sat beside Mac. He pulled Mac's hands away from his ears and met Mac's wide eyed look. He pulled Mac up to sitting and wrapped his arms around his friend until he relaxed. When Mac went limp with sleep. Jack sighed and moved Mac over in bed. He then retrieved the blanket and draped it over Mac. Jack stretched out beside his partner and closed his own eyes with exhaustion.


	13. Chapter 13

Jack opened his eyes. He ached from head to toe. He sat up and wiped his eyes. He went to check his watch.

"Damn." He whispered, remembering it had died for the cause. Jack glanced over his shoulder. The form of MacGyver laid unmoving under the covers. Jack smiled and stretched. He winced as his joints cracked. He stood up and took in his surroundings. The room they had been given had the bed. What Jack had thought had been a recliner was really a two-legged chair balancing on a pile of boxes. He stood up wincing at the creak the steel frame made. The room was tiny and boxes lined one wall. He crossed to the door which was actually a cloth curtain.

Outside the door, the small hospital hallways bustled with noise. Jack heard several different languages most he didn't recognize. Along both sides of the corridor narrow beds, cots and chairs were filled with women and children mostly. Jack vaguely remembered one of the police men saying the only emergency room with the kind of help Mac needed was mostly for women and children. Jack stepped back and nodded at a very pregnant young woman was being helped down the hall by a chattering older woman. The younger woman was panting, probably in labor. She looked at Jack and rolled her eyes. Jack smiled back. Some things were universal, he supposed. He paused hearing English. He followed it to a cluster of blue uniformed nurses wearing white hats and aprons. They were in the center of a large ward room talking to mothers who were feeding their infants or caring for them. Lines of beds along the walls also held children eating bowls of fruit or rice. Jack patiently waited until one of the nurses looked up at him. She pointed him down the hall to the toilet and also to a box beside the door. In it were t shirts, shorts and used shoes donated for the patients. Jack nodded.

The curtained alcove that was the bathroom had simply a stool, a small sink and a chipped, color-aged mirror. By Western standards it was primitive, but Jack had travelled the world over and knew exactly what a blessing plumbing really was. He grimaced looking at his grime encrusted face. He let the water run a long minute before using it to wash his face. He also knew better than to drink it. Out of the box he picked a dark green shirt and grey shorts for himself. Jack sighed already missing his black clothes no matter how blood and grime stained they were. He happened upon a faded orange t shirt that had a faded arrow with the words "I'm with stupid" printed in white in Mac's size. He smiled a second then looked sadly into the mirror. Mac would appreciate it when he was better. Jack would just have to get him better. Jack nodded at the mirror. He left the room and wound his way back to the hospital room. Peeping in he saw the blankets unmoved. Jack smiled. His internal clock told him he had been asleep at least 12 hours. He hoped Mac just stayed down, peaceful for at least a little while. He grabbed two bananas and a mango from a small fruit basket as he slid from the room.

The night before, hell the week before, was all a blur. He remembered almost punching some cops and doctors then the endless wait to get on the single phone in the hospital, an old wall pay phone. Mostly he had remembered trying to calm Mac down, to stop the panic, the screaming. Jack frowned. There was a long line waiting to talk on the phone already. He crossed to the check in desk to see the doctor. A tall well-dressed man that looked like an African Jeff Goldblum stood in front of him. The man had a deep belly voice.

"I am looking for Mr. MacGyver." The man said in mildly accented English. He then repeated the same thing in two different African languages. Jack eyed him a long minute. The man didn't look like a threat, but Jack had been put off believing in good will to all men for a while.

"Hey, man." He drawled. The man turned around and smiled a crook toothed smile.

"You are Mr. MacGyver?"

"No…say who are you? I might have seen him around and can tell him you're here." The man eyed Jack suspiciously, Jack raised his eyebrows in the most innocent expression he could manage.

"I am Dr. Peter Umbilia, I was sent from the Consulate by a Mathid— "

"Matty sent you!" Jack gushed. He pivoted and pulled Dr. Umbilia aside. "Are you here to fix Mac? The doctors tried to get some fluids in him last night— "The tall man pulled his arm away from Jack.

"I am a psychiatrist with the WHO. I'm doing research here on natural remedies and medicines— "

"You know about crazy-making plants? Perfect, come this way— "Jack said. When the man still didn't move, Jack nodded. "Suspicious, that's really cool. My partner and I sure could have done more of that…sorry, my name's Jack Dalton. MacGyver's my partner he's down this way."

"Oh…I see, let me get a copy of his history…" Peter said hesitating. Jack turned with him back to the desk. A girl Riley's age looked up. Peter requested Mac's files. The girl nodded and walked over to a group of several filing cabinets. She opened one and flipped through a shelf several times. She frowned.

"When did the patient come in?" She asked. Jack began to feel ripples of dread trickle down his spine.

"Last night." The girl ruffled through another drawer then went to a back room. Jack could hear her asking something in what he thought might have been Swahili. She returned frowning.

"We have no records of any MacGyver here, are you sure he was admitted here?" Jack heard the last from a distance as he turned and dashed back to the room where he'd left Mac. He pulled back taking a deep breath and relaxing when he saw the same bundle lying in bed unmoving. Jack froze, his heart skipping. Unmoving. His hand shook a little when he pulled the cover back. He let out a deep breath when he saw a pile of folded laundry. He was half relieved, only Mac could have switched out the linens, and half pissed. When had he become that old guy fooled by a pile of sheets? Really? Damn. He spun to the door and almost tackled Peter. Jack eased him out of the way and looked out down the hall in all directions. How long had Mac been gone? Where had he gone? Jack's mouth went spitless as a nasty suspicion grew. He knew the doctors had a file on Mac, he had given it to them himself. He also knew they had taken a swab of Mac's wounds. Jack was pretty sure he knew who would want them bad enough to steal them. That meant he had to find Mac first, and soon.

"What's going on?" Lumia asked.

"Mac's missing and I think the bitch who did this is after him, we have to find him." Jack gritted his teeth. "Think, think, think…" Peter grabbed his arm and pulled Jack to face him.

"What have his symptoms been?" The doctor asked. Looking up into his still, calm face Jack could see why the man would be a good psychiatrist.

"He's been damn near catatonic or having panic attacks, or rocking and screaming holding his ears…" Jack swallowed and looked away. "He keeps looking at me surprised I'm there or like I'm going to vanish or something."

"Responding to interior aural stimulation and probably some disassociation…" Peter mumbled putting a finger on his chin. Jack's frustration flared.

"Does all that mumbo jumbo translate into a location? I got to move." Jack said.

"It sounds like he'd hallucinating…" Seeing no change in Jack's face the doctor tried again, "seeing and hearing things. He probably doesn't know what's real and what's not." Jack nodded.

"Ok, and that means…" Jack pushed. The tall doctor ran a finger through his shaggy hair.

"I wouldn't know until I have a chance to examine him…" Jack grabbed the front of the man's shirt and pushed him up against the wall.

"Look, Doc, I'm sure you're very good at what you do and I really respect what y'all do, I really do. I'd had my time on the couch and I suspect I will again real soon especially if this year is any indication, but right now I really need some insight, some guess hell, I'll even take an uneducated one at this point, I have to find my boy before a wack jab psycho who has spent the better part of this week doing nothing but torturing him does, comprende?" Peter blanched at the edge to Jack's voice.

"Yes…yes…I see. It sounds like he was experiencing overstimulate…" The tall doctor paused at Jack's raised eye brow. "He might go where it's quiet." Jack let him go nodding. He whirled gently pushing through the milling patients and families to the closest nurse. He gently tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and Peter asked a question in an African language. She paused thoughtfully then turned and pointed down a long hallway and made several motions with her hands as she answered in a long lilting stream. Peter turned to translate. Jack grabbed him by the elbow and pushed him forward.

"Lead the way, Doc."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Mac was lost and terrified. He was screaming, he thought. He might not be. Was it motors? Others shouting? It wouldn't stop. He covered his ears. Faces, bloody mangled, burnt faces lunged out of the cloying grey blur the world had become. He felt nails rake his body, hot breath on the back of his neck. He ran. He didn't know where he was running from, where he was running to, or where he was. Mac didn't know anything. He felt cold on his face and closed his eyes. It did nothing to stop the maelstrom of confusion. Fire burned around him, inside him. Alfred Pena stood behind him screaming at him, his head melting in fire. Mac tried to turn away but somehow, he had become an empty cloud, everything inside was around outside him and the outside floated through him sharp like razors cutting him up from the inside. He was aware of his hand bleeding. He slammed it down. Hard, cold, cement. He stood up, or thought he did. He took a step and fell painfully to his knees. Everything hurt, everything was hot, raw…was he screaming? Or dreaming? Was he dream screaming? He felt himself start to laugh and rolled onto his back feeling the cold cement against his hot skin. The floor floated below him undulating like a hypnotized cobra. How had he gotten tacked to the ceiling? Mac laughed harder. Something scraped and dragged. He looked over, his hand had hit a rusty pipe. Mac stared at it, it snapped back and forth. He poked it then screamed when it started opening its eyes and yelling at him…was that Mandarin? Mac picked it up and rolled over closing his eyes as the dotted dice around him were shaken then tossed on the board. Mac found himself leaning against the wall. He froze, his eyes meeting those of a demon-

Jack and Peter had run out a small exit down several small dim corridors. They were lined with linen covered cots piled high with medical equipment. As they moved the corridors got quieter, and creepier.

"These had been filled to overflowing during the Ebola." Peter offered breathlessly as they paused to listen. Yep, definitely creepier. Jack thought. He was about to suggest they go to the right when they heard a scream followed by garbled yelling. Jack frowned and looked at Peter.

"Is that…Mandarin?" Umbilia asked. Jack smiled.

"Yeah, he does that. C'mon." He said running after the sound. Peter stared after him a long minute then followed. Jack pulled up in a dimly lit corridor. Mac stood in the center of the hallway staring into one of hundreds of dusty mirrors leaning against one wall. He was yelling with fury at his reflection and waving a thick rusty pipe at it menacingly. Jack winced. Mac still wore his boxers now covered almost black in grit, grime and dried blood. His body had taken on a purple mottled look punctuated with growing red patches where there had been circles. The sites where the thorns had been stabbed into his body were bloodshot eyes with runny green pupils. Mac was also bleeding from countless cuts. His hair was matted and dirty. He swayed and shook, his ribcage heaved in uneven rhythm and the staples on his side looked like chocolate crusted braces on a smiling three-year-old.

Mac belted out another stream of angry Mandarin. Jack was trying to decide if this was better or worse than being catatonic, when Mac staggered and almost fell.

"Mac!" Jack shouted. He went to step forward and froze when Mac turned to face him. The rage and hatred in Mac's eyes was palpable. He screamed and swung trying to take Jack's head off. Jack managed to duck, but slipped on the linoleum. Umbilia grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back before Mac caved in Jack's rib cage. Jack stared at the dent in the linoleum. Mac staggered with the force of his swing. He caught himself by a hand against one of the mirrors. It cracked. Mac stared into it and dropped the bar his eyes wide with terror. He whirled back at Jack and bent to pick up the steel again snarling at Jack in Mandarin. Jack reached his feet and backed away keeping his eyes on Mac's.

"What's he saying?" Peter asked.

"Something about socks and fire…I think." Jack said softly. He kept his voice calm. He desperately wanted Mac to correct him, remind him he didn't know a word of mandarin, which wasn't totally true. Mac just seemed to get angrier when Jack didn't answer. Jack realized there was no way this was going to end calmly. He gritted his teeth, hating what was coming.

"I am pretty sure that is not what he said…" Peter trailed off as Jack put a hand on the back of his waist and pushed him forward, toward MacGyver.

"You're up, Doc." Jack explained. Peter's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself face to face with a very crazed, very furious MacGyver. Mac yelled something and swung at the Doc's head. Instinct made the tall man pull his head back. A mirror smashed when the steel hit it. Mac froze a horrified look on his face as he watched it shatter. He glared at Peter, smiled then began to run up and down the corridor smashing the pipe into all the mirrors.

"Damnit!" Jack yelled jumping back to avoid flying glass. He had been using Peter as a distraction and had almost been close enough to grab Mac when Mac spun and went smashing up and down the hallway. "MAC, STOP! Damnit, like we don't already have a million years' bad luck coming."

Mac screamed as he bent and smashed the broken mirrors into smaller and smaller bits. Jack considered letting him wear himself out, but Mac seemed to be beyond feeling anything physical. Mac suddenly stopped, bent and stared at the mirrors. He began to visibly shake. The pipe fell out of his limp hand and he fell on his knees in the pile of broken glass. Jack winced and crept forward.

"Mac, "He said softly. Mac stared into the broken glass at a hundred small self-portraits. He began to sob and hit his hand against the glass and cement. His hand began to bleed, he didn't notice.

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Mac screamed. He put his hands over his ears. "STOP! Please…" Jack knelt beside him. He carefully reached out and touched Mac's arm. Mac looked over and started at Jack's hand. Slowly he followed it with his eyes until his red rimmed gaze met Jack's. "Please…stop…" Mac said. Jack swallowed.

"Shhh…shhhh…easy, kiddo. Come on, the doc here is gonna help…" Jack said softly, wrapping his arms around his younger friend. Mac's body relaxed against him. Jack could feel every heave of his breathing. He glanced up at Peter who didn't waste time. He nodded and came to help Jack carry Mac off the bed of broken glass. They sat Mac down in a clear space on the floor. Jack expected Mac to shy away from Umbilia but he only stared ahead at nothing. Catatonic again. Jack shot Peter a silent question. The man frowned.

"We need to get him seen, I'll be right back." Peter stood and dashed down the corridor. Jack stiffened, he liked the doc, but it would be a long cold day before Jack would ever trust someone blindly. He felt Mac stiffen and dig his grip into Jack's arm. Jack looked at Mac surprised by the alarm on the blonde's face. From out of it to blind panic, Mac's body tightened like a livewire. He sucked in air and looked at Jack.

"Not again, not again, please, please…" Mac gasped. Jack frowned when he heard voices from afar, one of them a familiar female voice. Sarana Lupia.

"Shit!" Did Peter sell them out? Jack stumbled to his feet and hauled Mac after him. His eyes darted, he jumped when Peter slid to a stop beside them. He pushed a gurney around the corner. "SHIT!" Jack yelled as Mac lost it. It felt like Mac suddenly had a dozen hands and fifty feet all of them hitting and moving in different directions as he went into animal survival mode. Jack winced at a solid punch along his jaw. He was pushed against the wall. Mac kicked Peter in the chin. Hating himself Jack did what he had to do. He rearranged his grip and choked Mac out. He closed his eyes. "shhhh…I'm sooo sorry…shhhhh…" Although it was only seconds it seemed like it took an hour for the wrangled gasps to ease into quiet breathing. Jack let him down carefully. He ignored the tears clawing at his eyes, but couldn't silence the ones running from his heart. Peter put a warm hand on his shoulder. Jack looked up.

"It had to be done." He said softly. He heard the voice and frowned. They both muscled Mac's limp body onto the gurney. Peter covered him with a sheet he'd found.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I know that voice, it is of a woman that was at the consulate when I arrived." Jack felt a chill go down his spine.

"Sarana Lupia." Jack hissed her name like a swear word. Umbilia looked at him in surprise.

"Sarana? I studied with her mother's people…she did this?" Peter said as he began to push the gurney. Jack nodded grimly.

"She wanted to see what happened when he went crazy or something." Jack said. He paused pinpointing the direction Sarana's voice seemed to be coming from. He also heard the universal squawk of a police radio and what sounded like four or five sets of boots coming with her. "Damn, we have to get out of here." Peter turned to roll the cart down another hallway.

"This way, I have a motor." Jack nodded and followed, hurrying their pace. They quickly found out that more police were looking for them. They came across several foot patrols that were asking about their whereabouts. Jack sighed. He and Mac stuck out like two sore thumbs. It took some doing but they finally made it out to a small side corridor. Twice they had to duck in patient's rooms. One time it was two elderly men playing checkers across each other in a bed, one wearing oxygen the other having a blood-tinged wrapping on a leg stump. Jack smiled awkwardly when they looked up in surprise. He reached into his pocket where he absently had placed the fruit from their room. He put it down. They grinned and each took a banana. Jack nodded and followed Peter. The second time a group of young women looked up alarmed. Peter quickly spoke to them gently. They pointed at the covered MacGyver. He spoke back, they began to look more alarmed. Not good. Jack quickly saw no immediate threat and hauled Mac into the corridor.

"What the hell was that?"

"They thought we were bringing a corpse with Ebola into their room, I told them no it was a living body…that seemed to worry them more." Jack raised an eyebrow and shook his head. He didn't know where Matty had found this one, but he sorts of fit right in. Finally, they reached Peter's car, a very small compact car which had different colored fenders and doors. It looked like rust held it together. Peter had to push down on the handle before the passenger's door opened. The back seat was small. Jack folded the passenger's seat down and climbed into the back seat his back against the other side of the car, he motioned for Peter to hand him Mac. Grunting in pain from his leg, Jack maneuvered his unconscious partner's body in diagonally like his. Peter raised his eyes. Jack rested their legs on the folded back of the front seat. They barely fit. He shrugged. Umbilia slammed the door shut and climbed in to drive. Jack felt him rev the motor.

"Easy, drive easy, just a normal day in the country side." He said softly ducking Mac's head low with his own. Peter nodded, but didn't answer. He pulled into traffic. Jack closed his eyes. He could hear the thrum of the city as they slowly made their way through the dusty busy streets. Jack had been to many third world cities. To the novice, they may all look the same, but Jack had learned to read the vibe of a city quickly. Freetown still wore the scars of Sierre Leone's long and bloody civil war in the form of burnt buildings and stone ruins. Driving among the different styles of architecture was a living archeology class as they drove through various levels of the city. There were bright spots of color, buildings in bright blues or yellow that seemed to pop out of boxy square housed blocks like flowers. There were tan adobe hotels and many boxy worn wood houses in a row, all with open doors that people flowed though in lazy routine. Jack didn't get the sense of anything out of the ordinary. It didn't seem as if any of the police of the city were on alert for them. Hopefully that meant Sarana was acting alone.

Jack leaned back trying to get comfortable, he closed his eyes. Mac twitched and tightened his grip on Jack's shirt. Jack looked down. Mac looked like he was asleep. Jack sighed and put his arm around Mac hoping to comfort him in whatever dark corner of his head he was trapped in. He met Peter's gaze in the rear-view mirror and nodded. Soon, bud. He silently told Mac, we'll bring you out of there soon.

"I have a place we can stay out of town, it will take about an hour to get there. Are you ok until then?" Peter asked looking into the rearview mirror. Jack nodded and sat up a little to ease a cramp forming in his back. He looked down. Mac hadn't moved. Jack repositioned him as comfortably as he could and resigned himself to being a mattress for the duration. He closed his eyes


	14. Chapter 14

Riley leaned back from the computer to stretch her tight shoulders. She yawned and winced as she yawned. Her face hurt like hell, and she was sure didn't look much better. Remembering the impromptu nose resetting made her shudder for the millionth time. She was grateful in hindsight. If Diving Sparrow hadn't reset it, she would have had to get it rebroken and then reset again. While she would have the luxury of painkiller and anesthesia, she would have been in the hospital a lot longer. She didn't have time for that. She fought a yawn. She glanced at her watch. The numbers blurred together. Riley and pretty much all of Phoenix have been working around the clock for the past week. She had gone through the data gotten off of the destroyed computers in the hidden base a thousand times. Many of the "valkyrie" members of Valhalla had been brought in and either gave up others or were arrested or worse. Some of those in the more sensitive positions faced treason charges.

"Why haven't they called yet?" Bozer said pacing. He looked as ragged as she felt. He had been directing some zombie apocalypse thing CJ had been working on in the desert, or dunes or something. Riley had been glad to see him get some downtime to pursue his one true love, but knew how guilty he felt not being here when Mac and Jack were taken and as he put it "Hydra activated." Riley took a steadying breath.

"Boze, they're seven hours ahead of us that would make it.."She looked at her watch again, "almost noon. They're probably busy, plus the phone service in Africa…"

"I know that!" Bozer snapped. He stopped and took a steadying breath. "I'm sorry, Ri, I'm so worried. When Mac was on that machine…"

"I know, Boze. But Jack is with him and you know Jack will do everything he can…"

"But it seems like everything hasn't been too damn much! I mean a full battle in East LA with an army...poisoning...a plane crash...and you, " Boze looked at Riley the way he had been for the past few hours, worried and hurt as if he felt her pain as deeply as she did. Riley smiled. In some ways, he probably did. Bozer had such a big heart, in that way he was just like MacGyver. For probably the billionth time, Riley felt like her heart would explode with gratitude. She had been locked in hell. From the second Mac sat down across the table from her and gave her that mischievous grin, she felt like she had been resurrected. How many people could count one person like Mac as a friend, let alone another like Bozer, and Jack...Riley cleared her throat and blinked. She crossed to Bozer.

"I know Boze. I'm worried too, but they need us to stay calm. Jack'll call then we'll be able to help them, OK?" She ducked her head until he looked up at her. He gave her a weak smile and patted the hand on his shoulder.

"I know that, Ri, and I know there isn't anyone better at taking care of Mac, but...Riley he's lost so much in his life, what if he loses himself in this...craziness? What if we lose him for good? Worrying about him getting shot, stabbed...that is hard enough, but torture! Riley he was tortured and now he's gone crazy for real. You should have seen him when he came back from the army, and to think he might be stuck in those nightmares forever? I don't...I don't know what I…" Bozer shook his head and began to pace again.

"I know, Boze. We just aren't going to let that happen." Riley said. Bozer looked at her with his deep, worried gaze.

"Do you mean that or are you just hoping?"

"I mean it." Riley said, and she did. Matty stormed into the room before they could say anything else. She slammed a folder on the table and paced her lips compressed to the point of almost being white. Riley shared a worried glance at Bozer.

"What's the matter, Matty?" She asked. Matty took a deep breath.

"We have been ordered to stand down."

"What!"

"Why?" Bozer and Riley said at the same time.

"The director of the DOJ thinks that enough resources are working on this problem. He has ordered us to stand down and return to our other duties. I think he's right." The other two gaped at her. Before they could complain she put her finger across her lips. Riley's eyes widened.

"We can't just leave Mac and Jack out there alone!" Bozer said not getting the hint. Matty stepped forward and put a hand on his arm shaking her head. He stopped confused. He went to say something else but Matty put a hand over his mouth.

"We don't have enough resources to hunt all over Sierre Leone looking for them. We just have to trust they can get themselves back. In the meantime, orders are orders."

"And we always follow orders." Riley said her serious tone belying her grin. Matty grinned back and nodded at the file on the table.

"In the meantime, you both have been here almost three straight days. Why don't you go back to Baja and finish the movie with CJ." Matty suggested. She mouthed the words "go home" and pointed at her chest then at them. They nodded getting the message.

"That's a great idea, boss lady." Bozer said. He wasn't overly convincing. Riley grabbed the folder, her computer, took his arm then pulled him out of the war room. She turned over her shoulder.

"See you in a week, Matty?"

"Make it two, you both have been working hard on this." Matty said. Riley nodded and pulled Bozer out to his car. Bozer went to ask Riley a question, she shook her head slightly. He nodded and turned on the radio. Riley opened her laptop and started clicking the buttons. After a long minute she said.

"Ok, we're clear."

"Riley, what the hell?" Bozer burst out. Riley flipped open the file folder, she pulled out two coach tickets to Sierre Leone, pass ports with cover names and credit cards and documents to match. She held them up to Bozer who smiled. He'd never been to Africa, his face fell when he saw the word coach. Riley chuckled.

"Matty said she'd meet us at your house, let's go make sure it's clean."  
"Hey I picked up before I left if it's a mess that's all Mac…" He stopped when Riley stared at him. He grinned, "Oh you mean like bugs and spy stuff. Shoot, I knew that."

The house was clean. Bozer quickly made coffee. They were both sitting at the island talking when Matty arrived. She carried a file box, Bozer took it from her automatically. Matty smiled.

"What's going on, Matty?" Riley asked. At Matty's raised eyebrow, Riley nodded that it was safe for them to talk.

"I think we found our Odin." Matty said crossing to make coffee. Bozer handed her down a cup from the cabinet.

"In the DOJ?" He asked. Matty took a sip.

"Worse, I think it's Kent Campbell." She announced. The other two stared at her a long minute.

"Matty! If that's true…" Riley trailed off, her eyes wide as her mind thought of the ramifications. Matty held up a hand to cut her off.

"I know, don't worry about him. I'll take care of him after I do a little house cleaning at Phoenix." She said taking a longer sip of coffee and sighing contentedly. Bozer made damn good cup.

"Are you sure about this Matty?" Riley asked.

"Not completely. "

"It makes sense though, "Bozer said, "I mean, all those cops and other people recruited...it had to be someone high up, right?"

"Yeah but where does that leave Mac and Jack." Riley asked.

"Out in the wind, alone. I reached out to the consulate to a friend of mine. They recommended a psychiatrist that lives near Freetown. Someone leaked at the consulate and Jack and Mac vanished from the hospital. All records of Mac being admitted and samples of his blood were stolen. I want you two to go over there and find them. Do not trust anyone and always test for listening devices. We have cut down a lot of branches in this thing, but there are still some roots out there. " She met both of their eyes in turn. Riley put a hand on her shoulder.

"You can count on us, how can we reach you?"

'I'll reach you."

"And if they call?" Bozer said. Matty offered him a warm smile.

"Don't worry Bozer, I'll let you know first thing." Bozer nodded, but the worry in his didn't dim.

Jack was thrilled when they finally reached his destination. The one hour drive had ended up being four. Jack was wet with sweat, most from his time as Mac's resident pillow. Mac had jerked awake, hot with a high fever. He had begun to panic. Peter had pulled over and had helped Mac and Jack out of the tight back seat. Mac had briefly run, then stopped hunched over and dry heaved. He fell to his knees barely conscious. Umbilia had checked him over. Mac watched him warily, but allowed the man to feel his forehead and take a pulse without a reaction. Peter had looked at Jack alarmed.

"We need to get his temp down very soon." Jack had nodded and together they had coaxed Mac into the back seat. Mac stayed awake the rest of the drive staring out the back window. Periodically his body would tighten, his breathing would grow fast and his light blue eyes watched something a flame of panic in them. . Mac muttered under his breath and occasionally answered questions no one asked. Once he even smiled and laughed clapping Jack on the shoulder as if he had told the funniest joke ever. Jack had smiled, glad Mac was at least knowing he was there, and was more than a little relieved that Mac had stopped having the wild panic attacks. Peter said it was because there was less stimulation around him. Jack thought it had more to do with his fever, exhaustion and agony he obviously was feeling. He had to wind down eventually right? Jack knew exactly how much stamina the kid had, but even he must be ready to crash by now? Jack was feeling threadbare himself, fighting off fatigue, faintness and pain. He knew if he didn't recharge soon he was going to crash and burn.

The sky had turned easter egg lavender with a soft pink resting on the distant mountains around them. It seemed like they had been continuously up since they had left Freetown. The sun had almost completely vanished. They pulled into a long driveway lined by a short white wooden fence. The lawn was mostly packed dirt with patches of sparse green grass. Circles of families sat surrounding small fires. Jack's mouth watered and his stomach started reminding him exactly how long it had been since he'd eaten when he smelled spicy food cooking. Umbilia waved and smiled as he passed them heading up to a large adobe house that reminded Jack of a Mexican hacienda.

Along the edges of the house a series of terraced gardens framed by old brick grew thick green plants and bromeliads. Peter parked the car beside an old truck with wooden slats in the back and two cars older and smaller than his. The sunlight was almost gone. A small lamp beside a simple white front door sparked into life. A large older man stepped out crossing to Peter. They warmly embraced, then spoke at length in a lyrical African dialect Jack thought might be Krio. He slowly pulled himself out of the car, leaning on the roof as everything seemed to spin around him. He felt like everything was swirling like water down a drain. He shook his head. He forced himself upright as Peter introduced the large man.

"This is Ebe Umbilia, my father. This is Jack Dalton." The man smiled. His smile reminded Jack a little of James Earl Jones, but he had a more worn solid face. Jack smiled back. Feeling the hard callouses in the man's hands, Jack was reminded of his dad. He instantly liked the guy, with the usual reservations, of course. The man bent down to look into the back seat. Mac was staring at the man wide-eyed, panting and trying to move farther back into the car seat. Ebe smiled gently and crouched down, making him as unthreatening as possible.

"And this must be MacGyver." The man said. His voice was deep like his son but held a gentle tone only someone who raised children could make. Mac responded a little. He stopped trying to crawl through the vinyl, but did not relax. "You're right son, he definitely has a fever. And those pustules, you have no idea what type of infectant?" Jack raised an eyebrow. Peter grinned, his smile bright in the dimming light.

"My whole family is made up of doctors, my father is pediatrician. My older brother is an epidemiologist, my two sisters are midwifes and my mother is a surgeon."

"Wow! That's amazing." Jack said. He stumbled a step. Ebe stood and steadied him. Jack could feel the older man's gaze rake him from head to toe assessing every cut and bruise. He turned to his son and began to say something. Jack shook his head and tried to focus, but their faces seemed like fuzzy fingerprints in the falling night. "We got to get Mac…" He managed to mumble before his knees gave out. Ebe managed to grab him around the waist. The larger man easily took most of Jack's weight as he walked him to the house. Jack tried to protest, worried at leaving Mac alone with strangers, but he felt like his mouth was full of kindergarten paste. He was dimly aware of being half carried through a room with a large table surrounded by several adults and a seemingly endless supply of moving children. Jack blinked his eyes realizing he was probably seeing double. He heard voices all around him and felt another strong set of shoulders prop up his other side. Jack's head drooped and he found it more and more difficult to lift his feet. Faces and hands blurred around him. He felt himself lifted and placed on cool sheets. He tried to blink them into focus, but a dark curtain was slowly closing his eyes.

"Mac…" He whispered.

"Don't worry, I will make sure MacGyver is OK, I promise." Ebe's deep voice said echoing softly from far away.

Ebe looked up at Peter as he reached over Jack's unconscious head to take a blood pressure cuff out of a basket on a shelf above the bed. He quickly put a stethoscope in his ears and listened. He took Jack's vitals and looked up at his youngest boy, David who was sitting across from him laying supplies for an IV on the bed.

"Go with the D5NS, he's dehydrated and probably hasn't eaten in a long time." Ebe said. David nodded as he straightened Jack's arm and snapped a tourniquet tight above his elbow.

They moved quickly with a practised rhythm. With funding from a WHO grant, the entire Umbilia family ran the largest outreach clinic outside Freetown. They helped hundreds who came to them for help for various illnesses and also traveled miles into distant villages to help people who had no other way of getting any kind of medical help beyond herbal remedies. Nina, David's youngest daughter, a girl of ten came in with a armful of towels, bandages and a pitcher of water. David thanked her. She skipped away with a wave. David smiled up at Ebe.

"A nurse that one." He said. Ebe nodded, but focused his attention on some dark bruising on Jack's abdomen. David removed the tourniquet as he fed the catheter forward removing the needle from Jack's IV. With practiced ease he flushed the line and taped down the side. He hooked up the fluids and placed the bag on a hook on the edge of the shelf. He rolled the clamp until a steady stream ran into the chamber. "What about his friend?" Ebe looked up grimly.

"Your mother and Peter are bringing him up. We need to get a complete workup on him. He's much more critical than Jack here." Ebe sighed, "I'm not sure there is much we can do for him." David met his father's grim look with a nod. He soaked a small towel and began to wash the myriad of cuts and scrapes Jack had accumulated. They worked in harmonious silence. Ebe removed the stethoscope and reached up to the shelf for some cream in one of the many small jars on the shelf. "They are very close. I think Jack would kill himself for MacGyver." David looked up, reaching out for a suture tray on the shelf.

"From the looks of it, he damn near did."

"Easy, Mac." Peter said as softly as he could. He had taken his father's place as the older man had walked Jack into the house. Mac watched Jack go with a horrified terror. He was rasping in breath, his eyes constantly roving the car looking for a way out. Peter saw his mother cross to the driver's door and slowly open it. She was a plump small woman in blue dyed linens and a matching head turban. She had eyes that laughed easily, but lines that spoke of times of tears creaked their corners. A birthmark that looked like a baby's fingerprint marked her freckled left cheek. Mac jumped at the sound of her opening the door. He raised himself to crouch on the seat. Peter shared a glance with his mother who crouched low like he did. She smiled and spoke softly.

"Hello MacGyver, my name is Laura. You're friend Jack is OK, he's just worn out. You look pretty tired too, do you want to come into my house and rest?" Mac frowned and his eyes darted back and forth. Laura glanced over at Peter. "Tell Max to draw up some lorazepam."

"We don't know what chemicals he's been exposed to, Mom."

"I know, baby, but we don't have a choice. You see those staples? We have to take them out and debride those open sores." Peter nodded and slowly backed away. Mac crept over toward the open passenger's door. "Hey, buddy." Laura said softly, drawing his attention back to her. Mac froze and looked at her cocking his head. He was looking more puzzled than scared so she took the opportunity to pull the driver's seat forward. Mac jumped at the sound, but didn't bolt. Laura wanted. Suddenly Mac grinned.

"Mama Bozer?" He said. He said it softly, but Laura was surprised at the deepness of his voice.

"Yeah, hey buddy." She said softly. Laura felt a pang of guilt at deceiving him, but a good surgeon knew hurt often brought healing. Mac crept forward. He reached out a shaking hand. Laura took it her eyes widening at how hot it felt. She gave him a once over. It was astounding that he was still conscious, she thought. Suddenly she found herself wrapped in a desperate embrace. Being a mother of half a dozen and grandmother to many more, she hugged back and carefully guided him out of the car murmuring softly. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Her oldest son, Max stood to her left a syringe in his hand carefully hidden behind his leg. Peter stood to her right. She nodded and hugged Mac closer. Max injected Mac in the shoulder as quickly as he could. Mac backed up, betrayal on his face. His breathing became even more ragged. Peter gracefully eased his mother out of the way and nodded at his brother. As one they moved forward to securely hold Mac. Mac howled and lashed out. Carefully they half carried half pulled him away from the car to keep him from pounding against it in his struggles. They waited. It took a long five minutes, but soon his movements became weaker until his eyes fluttered close and he slumped in their arms. Peter breathed out in relief and nodded at his brother. They shifted so Peter carried Mac under his arms and Max had his legs. Their mother led the way to the house.

"Take him right back…"

"Mom, he had a severe trauma on a surgical table, we'll have to put him in bed before he wakes up" Peter said. She looked back at the limp blonde as she held the door open. She felt her heart break. He was so young and in such terrible shape. What horrors had he been through. She nodded and followed her sons into their house. She began calling out orders to her family as she shut the door.


	15. Chapter 15

**Well hell, this story is going to be longer than promised. Sorry. At this point, I have to confess this puppy is writing itself! LOL. Thanks for hanging in and for the wonderful reviews.  
**

 _The cave was a throat swallowing him. He could feel the darkness, damp and sucking, like lips around his skin pulling him deeper and deeper...teeth of fear chewed into his bones...the gun he held was nothing more than a cap gun, smoke and sharp taste of gunpowder tinged with thick greasy feel, sweat lubricating his hands...the hard rocks beneath him undulated like the back of a tongue… "...there's an old man sitting next to me, making love to his tonic and gin…" Jack grinned following the song. It was an elegant ballroom, women in form-fitting glittering costumes knifed across the smooth floor, knife blades wielded by men in black and white tuxes. They all wore the same mask, a bright yellow happy face, as they waltzed. Jack straightened his tuxedo sleeves with glittering white gloves that matched the disco ball slowly strobing in the center of the ceiling over the ballroom. Everything was glamor and glitz, satisfying champagne for the eyes. Jack handed his gun to a waiting man dressed like Alfred from Batman. "Very good, sir. A drink for you and your lady?" The butler handed Jack a tall champagne glass of blood that boiled hot in his grip...he took a sip and coughed, it burned as hot as jalapeno and  
_

 _Vodka mixed in the Sahara...He turned, Sarah in a stunning blue gown gracefully put her hand on his elbow taking her own glass of blood...He glides to a small table near the front of the dance floor. "Isn't that your best friend?" Sarah asked pointing to the piano player. Jack grinned…"Mac!" He stood and waved. A spotlight beamed onto the black stone stage lighting up Hugh Silverman, dapper in a silver tux with hat and tails...He looks at Jack and nods. Jack sits down…"...Freedom is just another name for having nothing left to lose…" He crooned winking at Jack. Jack leans toward Sarah, "Something's not right." He hissed. He could see black tag geared men with red bows around their necks circulate with trays of knives and grenades...couples laughing at the tables took them and put them on their plates… One man tried to stab a grenade with a fork and disappeared in a cloud of sparks. Everyone else cheered, yelling "Bravo! Again!" Another man stabbed his companion, again the crowd cheered. Looking up at the stage, Hugh watched furiously. He crossed his arms and pouted looking like a four-year-old told he had to go to bed. Sarah laughed. "Don't be silly. Isn't this fun?" Jack turned to see her picking her teeth with a long blade stiletto knife. "Do you want to dance?" Her tone was menacing, but her eyes promised a long pleasant night. He grinned and stood sliding back her chair. She smiled and gracefully took his hand. Gliding he whirled her around the dance floor. They seemed to float on a thick layer of blood, the other couples dancing smiled love at each other as they calmly gutted, shot, or exploded each other. Jack whirled Sarah out then rolled her in close. She waved the stiletto, it's arc hypnotic. She gave him a Marilyn Monroe smile, then slowly pressed the blade into his heart. He looked down surprised, there was no pain, no wound. He looked up at her surprised. She laughed and rolled her eyes like he had just done something incredibly stupid. She removed the bloody blade and put her arm around his neck. She nodded up to the stage...MacGyver, a young innocent MacGyver dressed in an orange T and Jeans was tied with a thick blood red pulsing vine with savage long black thorns leaking sickly pus. Jack gagged at the smell of burnt flesh and something rotten. Mac screamed, the branch tightening and another thorn stabbing him in the heart. He looked at Jack with horrified eyes. Jack tried to get away from Sarah, but she wasn't Sarah anymore. She pulled off her yellow smiley face to reveal the glamorous beauty of Sarana Lupia. Jack pulled away, but the woman's cold arms held him like the branches of a tree. She pressed her lips against his and forced her tongue down his throat. He gagged tasting acid and bile burn his mouth all the way to his navel. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. After an eternity she slowly pulled away…"...dig if you will a picture, of you and I engaged in a kiss...how can you leave me in a world that's so cold…" Jack bent over puking out bullets…"May I cut in?" Hugh said. Sarana curtsied and left spinning in his arms across the dead bodies laying on the dance floor smiling up at the ceiling...Jack spit out the last bullet and went to cross to Mac...with every step he slid backward in the slick bloody dance floor...Mac's tear stained, ten-year-old eyes begged him to come, to help, to end the pain...Jack pushed himself forward trying to go fast enough, but still the throbbing vine speared the boy's body with another huge thorn, almost going through his tiny body…Jack! Jack! Where are you? Help me, please! You promised you'd never leave...The child's scream rattled the room which now had nothing moving, everyone laying dead on the floor. Jack tried to yell to Mac, to comfort him, but his burnt throat was swelling, he couldn't utter a sound...Jack's eyes burned as another thorn stabbed into Mac's flesh...No! He tried to scream...Mac writhed, his eyes closed, head thrown back, gasping for air...He was almost covered by the vine now, it drinking his blood, growing more thorns...still Jack was pulled backwards...an invisible wind, hot, damp like a rotting jungle blew...Jack tried to scream as he was lifted off the floor and thrown backwards toward the doors of the ballroom, crystal doors cold like dead skin...They slammed shut, thick chains and locks in gold closing them forever...Jack could still hear Mac's soul-crunching screams...He pounded on the doors, threw his shoulder against them...pulled on the chains…"You promised...Jack, you promised you'd never leave me…" echoed in the black cavern as moist lips seemed to slurp him deeper and deeper into darkness, Mac's voice grew weaker and farther away, swallowed into the throat of stone and screams…  
_

Jack jerked awake gasping for air, his heart pounding. He sat up taking deep breaths. The room around him was well lit, bright noon sunlight streaming through open windows. The soft hum of fans ticked and Jack felt a cooling breeze. He closed his eyes enjoying the soothing quiet. In the distance, he could hear the soft hum of conversations, occasional squeals of children, but they felt like a quiet storm he was safely protected from. He took one less breath trying to shut out memories of screams. He wiped his face. His hand came away dripping, he wasn't sure if it was sweat or tears. He took in the room. It was large and tall. The walls were painted white, but bright children's drawings were scattered along the walls above shelves filled with all kinds of medical supplies. Jack laid back and ran a shaking hand through his short hair.

He frowned noticing that he had an IV in the crook of his elbow. He followed the tubing, a bag almost completely empty hung above his bed. He glanced down. A brightly colored light cloth covered him and he wore a loose fitting homemade yellow hospital gown.

A soft moan to his left snapped his head in that direction. He let out a deep breath and sat up quickly. Too quickly. The world sees sawed and he felt sea sick. He swallowed closing his eyes until the dizziness passed. He felt the IV pull at his arm. Absently he yanked it out, standing up. He caught himself with a hand on the wall to keep from collapsing. He ignored it and forced his feet to move.

Mac lay in the bed beside him. Beyond him were two other empty beds neatly made with quilts neatly folded on them. It was an odd mixture of hominess and hospital antiseptic. Jack staggered to Mac's bed and collapsed beside him. He took in Mac's appearance from top to bottom. Mac was clean, all the grime gone. His hair, obviously freshly washed, was slick against his wet mottled skin. He looked both ash gray and hot red. Raised hives left swatches of pebbly red skin down his neck and across his bare chest. Jack touched his hand, it was hot to the touch but not as bad as it had been. Jack noted that ice packs were propped under Mac's neck, in his armpits. He guessed they were around his groin as well, although a thin yellow sheet covered his lower half. Mac's chest was a sunset of epic proportions ranging from dark bloated purple to bland yellow. A fresh linen bandage wrapped his chest and a small drain beside it was filling with pus and blood. The weeping sores where he had been stabbed were covered by thick pale green ointment. Jack could smell aloe and some sort of mint.

Mac moaned his head shaking side to side. His pale eyes flew open staring at something over Jack's shoulder.

"Mac?" Jack asked gently. Mac's hand reached up and he tried to grab something over the bed. When his hand came back empty, his breathing seemed to catch as if he were about to scream. Jack reached out and captured the hand. Mac jumped and slowly turned his head squinting up at Jack. Jack squeezed the hand. "Hey, bud." He said softly. Mac pulled his hand away and turned as if he were going to roll to the other side of the bed, to be followed by an attempt to get up, Jack was sure. Jack gently pushed his shoulder back to the mattress. "No, kiddo, you need to stay in bed. You're really sick." Mac looked over at Jack his eyes widening.

"Go…'way...stop haunting...not real...Jack's gone...not coming back...No! Jack!" The last was a scream. Jack's heart shattered on the cool tiles.

"Mac, Mac? Easy now, I'm real. See? Feel that? That's my heart beat? I'm alive, I'm here." Jack put Mac's hand against his chest. Mac stared at him tears filling his eyes…

"P...please…" He whispered. His eyes slid shut, his body jumped and he moved as if to arch his back, to get away from pain. Jack shook his head and lowered his friend's hand while continuing to hold it. With his other hand, he brushed sweat slick bangs out of his face.

"You are really good with him." Jack jumped and turned. A woman almost as small as Matty walked in carrying a tray with a bowl of sloshing ice water, a stack of clean towels and a syringe crossed to the other side of Mac's bed. She set the tray down on a small bedside table and sat on the side of the bed. Jack smiled at her.

"I should be, he's my best friend." The woman tilted her head and her mouth quirked into a wisdom old smile.

"He's much more than that, I think." She said. Her voice was low almost husky but it was the kind of voice that could calm a tornado. She held out a hand. "I'm Laura, Ebe's wife."

"Mighty pleased to meet you, " Jack said genuinely. If he hadn't stumbled onto this amazing family...he looked at Mac and tried to swallow the fuzzy tennis ball that seemed to lodge in his throat. Tears burned his eyes. He blinked them away and rubbed his forehead. He was still sweaty but felt cooler. Warm, dry hands roughened by being scrubbed for surgery several dozen times a day cupped the hand he held out.

"I'm so glad you are here, Jack." She looked down at Mac and let Jack's hand go. She reached over to the syringe and removed the needle with a twist. She brought out a small alcohol wipe and wiped the port of IV tubing that ran fluids into Mac's upper left arm. She slowly pushed it in, then wiped the port again. Mac's eyes fluttered open slits and he jerked his head to the side mumbling incoherently. Laura put the empty syringe on the tray and dipped a towel into the cold water. Mac's murmured turning toward the cool towel as she gently pressed it against his forehead. Jack smiled.

"So am I. I can't thank you enough for taking care of him...us." Laura laughed.

"It's what we do, although you make it easy. Your devotion to him...you are very special." Her eyes twinkled.

"Are you flirting with me?" Jack teased, unable to stop the flush he felt grow in his cheeks. She laughed louder.

"And what if I was?" Laura said. Jack's smile slowly faded as he looked down at Mac.

"I'm not special. He's the special one if you only knew how many people he's helped, how many lives he's saved…" Jack said.

"Like yours?" Laura asked rinsing out the towel.

"More times than I can count. He's a genius, but more than that he has such a big heart. Honestly, it's just an honor to count him as a friend." Jack admitted closing his eyes. Everything seemed blurry. He heard Laura move and felt her strong presence beside him, steadying him. He looked up into her eyes. Their soft brown wisdom seemed to draw him in forever.

"As I think he would say about you." She said softly. " You need to eat something." Jack nodded. He felt like a carved jack o'lantern. Laura pulled him up by the upper arm. He swayed, wondering distantly where they were going. To his surprise, she led him to the other side of the bed and pushed him to sit down. She put the wet towel in his hand. "I will get you some food, you keep trying to bring his temperature down." Jack nodded dunking the towel in the cold water. He looked up and met her gaze.

"Thank you." He said softly. She smiled and nodded leaving the room. Jack knew that if he had been in the states they would have forced him to watch helplessly from his bed. He appreciated being able to do something to help his friend. He smiled as Mac's head turned into the cool towel and he hummed in contentment. "I tell you bud, that one's a keeper. If Ebe didn't scoop her up…" Mac's only reaction was a sigh as his breathing eased into a calmer rhythm. Jack felt his own knots untie as he saw his partner finally have some sort of relief.

Laura returned carrying another tray. This one held bowls of rice, watermelon, and mashed cassava Jack's mouth watered enough he was worried about drooling onto the floor. There was a tall glass of pink juice.

"Papaya juice," Laura said. "It'll help your stomach." She leaned down, breaking Jack's hungry stare at the food. "Jack, listen. I know you want to attack this food, but go slow." Jack nodded. Laura carried the tray over to Jack's bed then came and helped him back into it. She glanced at his IV site. It had only dropped a few drops, already healing after the fluids stopped running. Jack sat and took a sip of the papaya juice. He could feel it's coolness flow down to his stomach then out to his body. Laura laughed and went back to Mac's side. To force himself to eat slow, Jack counted to 30 after each bite. He didn't know how much time had passed before the bowls were empty and clean enough to put back on the shelf. He sighed and looked up. The room had totally faded into the background replaced by taste and texture of each bite. He felt full and less dizzy. He yawned. Laura had Mac sitting up, leaning against her as she gently sponged his mottled back. With his head leaning on her shoulder turned toward Jack, Jack wished Mac was awake to enjoy this selfless mothering. Jack sniffed and moved his tray to the small table beside his bed. He yawned and laid back down. His eyes drifted close and he began to snore almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Riley opened her eyes as she felt the plane begin to descend. She sat up and yawned rubbing her eyes. She stretched as much as she could. Bozer had taken the window seat saying that he got airsick easy. He leaned against it, snoring softly. The pilot's voice came over the intercom telling them they would be on the ground in 20 minutes and that the local temp was 96 degrees, the wind was coming from the northeast and local time was 3:00 pm. Riley yawned as she reset her watch. She nudged Bozer with her elbow.

"Wakey, wakey." She said. Bozer grunted but didn't wake up. Riley sighed and shook his shoulder he snorted and bolted upright. She chuckled as he looked around, his eyes wide. Bozer scowled at her and wiped his face with both hands. The plane lurched down then gently righted itself. Bozer swallowed uneasily.

"How long before we're on the ground." He asked.

"Just a few minutes," Riley answered bending to gather her computer from below the seat in front of her. He nodded and cracked his neck. He watched as tiny dots turned into a mishmash nest of all types of buildings and colors. Bozer swallowed taking a deep breath. This was the first time he'd ever been on a mission with only Riley. He glanced at her and saw the same mixture of fear and worry in her eyes. She was just better at hiding it, he said as she watched out the window her face blank of any sign of distress.

"What are we going to do when we land?" Bozer asked softly.

"Get our luggage," Riley said with a smirk. Bozer rolled his eyes.

"Duh! I mean after that?" His voice was stronger.

"I was thinking we could start at the consulate."  
"Matty said there was a leak there," Bozer said frowning.

"It's our only lead," Riley said.

Matty yawned and rolled out of bed. She was showered, dressed and fed in fifteen minutes and out the door in twenty. She listened to NPR as she made her way to Phoenix. There were reports of the arrests and hints of the massive corruption, but it was a reassuring sanitized version. Matty's phone buzzed. She turned off the radio and glanced at the number, it was an international number from Sierre Leone. She smiled expecting Riley to be checking in. Matty almost drove off the road when she heard Jack's voice.

"Hey, Matty." He said. He sounded tired, but a million times better than the last time they had spoken.

"Jack, what's your status?"

"We're at a family clinic outside Freetown. I'm ok, Mac…"She could hear the fear in his voice. "...he's real sick." Matty felt her heart fall. She had started out mistrusting MacGyver's methods but had learned how unique and valuable he was. More importantly, she reminded herself, she had learned what a great friend he was.

"Fill me in." She said. They exchanged information catching each other up to date.

"I think I'll rendezvous with Riley and Bozer…" Jack began.

"No, send someone else, they know what you look like." She expected Jack to argue and remind her, loudly, that he knew how to keep from being followed. He just let out a breath.

"Hold on a sec, " he said. She could hear a mumbled conversation. "Peter is going to run into the consulate, he has to get some labs done by a friend of his who lives in Freetown and wants to see if Sarana is still there, or find out why she was there in the first place."

"Ok, good. What does he look like? I'll have Riley and Bozer meet up with him."

"He looks like an African Jeff Goldbloom." Matty grinned and fought to keep from laughing.

"Alright, Jack. Rest up. I suspect things are going to move fast from here."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to poke the tiger today," Matty said parking her car. There was a long pause.

"Ok, Matty. Remember to hold tight to that sucker's tale."

"No, Jack. I'm going to cut it off."


	16. Chapter 16

A loud crash followed by a cry of pain woke Jack up. He was out of bed and standing before he was really aware of what was happening. His hand twitched and he felt a pang of fear when there was no gun where there should be. Jack blinked and it all returned. He looked over at Mac and dashed to his side. Mac had crawled out of bed and collapsed. He had knocked over his bedside table and the pole the IVs had been hanging from. Jack was at his side in an instant. Mac sprawled on the floor, but appeared unhurt, or at least not hurt worse. He was curled on his side clutching his chest where his ribs still moved out of sync. He was breathing faster but it wasn't the panicked breaths he had been having.

Jack crouched beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. Mac jumped then looked up at him squinting. The light in the room had dimmed with the coming evening.

"Hey, Mac, you ok?" Jack said softly. Mac pushed himself upright with a trembling arm. His blue eyes were wide and a grin of delight spread across his face. Jack smiled back prepared for anything, or so he thought. He was not prepared to be pulled into a strangling hug. He caught his breath and carefully hugged Mac back trying to not hurt him.

"You came back!" Jack felt his heart soar. Was Mac back? He felt Mac shake. He wasn't sure if it from cold, his fever, weakness or emotional overload. Probably a bit of all of the above.

"Of course, bud. I promised." Jack said. Mac sat back but started to flop over. Jack gently eased him up to the bed. Mac leaned against closing his eyes against what Jack could only guess was a storm of dizziness. Mac took a few deep breaths then opened his eyes. He reached a shaking hand out and grabbed Jack's wrist as if to make sure he was really there and wouldn't creep awake.

"Grandpa said you weren't coming back, but I knew you would. Where have you been? Did you miss me, Dad?" Jack's heart did a nosedive. Mac thought he was his absent father? Jack felt a pang of irritation followed by fondness.

"Sure, you know I'd never leave you." Jack cleared his throat. "I thought of you every minute. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back I had…" Jack trailed off.

"I know, Dad. Important work." Jack felt his face flush with anger. That was the reason he was given for his dad's abandonment? Jack crouched closer meeting the fever lit eyes

"Nothing is more important than you, Mac," Jack said. Mac's blue eyes were made even bluer by the evening light. Jack could see them moisten with a hero worship. Jack squirmed. He hated lying to his friend, especially about his dad. "Let's get you back to bed," Jack said moving to lift Mac off the floor. The sound of running feet made him look up. Ebe hurried into the room. He snapped on the light. Jack blinked. He felt a very warm body attach itself to his back. Jack glanced over. Mac was hiding behind him, eyes wide with fear. Despite the situation, Jack found himself smiling. He always teased Mac about being a kid. With his wide eyes and innocent expression, he looked like a kid. Jack's smile disappeared. A frightened kid.

"It's ok, Mac. He's a friend." Jack said. Mac moved even closer. Jack could feel his uneven breathing and pounding heartbeat.

"Are you sure?" He whispered. Jack looked up at Ebe who had stopped moving taking in the situation. Ebe crouched to the floor. He was calm and his face was friendly. Jack realized that the pediatrician probably had to deal with frightened children a lot.

"Hi, MacGyver," Ebe said softly.

"Angus, my name is Angus silly," Mac said poking his head out from Jack's back a little more. Ebe nodded seriously.

"Of course, I knew that. I just wanted to see if you knew that. My name is Ebe."

"Ebay? Like the website? " Mac giggled.

"Sure, how do you think they got the name?" Mac seemed to ponder this. "Why don't we get you back to bed?" Ebe said coming closer. Jack felt Mac cling a little tighter when Ebe stood up and towered over them.

"It's bedtime, bud." He offered. Mac slowly disentangled himself.

"No, I haven't eaten supper yet. When will Mom get home? She's suppose to make grilled cheese tonight." Jack swallowed.

"She...uh, she has to work late." He managed. Mac's frown melted into one of disappointment and childish anger. For the billionth time, Jack wished he could have Mac's dad in a room alone for ten minutes.

"Besides, " Ebe said, "you don't want to ruin boy's night out do you?" Jack smiled, shooting Ebe a grateful glance. Mac sat back and appeared to consider this. He shrugged and winced with pain.

"But I'm hungry!" He whined. Jack looked up at Ebe.

"Why don't you get back in bed and I'll fix some food," Ebe said. Mac's face scrunched.

"No broccoli!" Mac demanded. Ebe smiled.

"Of course not." Ebe looked at Jack. Jack nodded at Ebe's unasked question. Jack turned to Mac to find him holding up both arms, like a child demanding to be picked up. Jack shook his head. After all of the tunnels, Mac's mind has wondered into this was Jack's favorite so far. He carefully grabbed Mac and gently lifted him gently back to bed. Mac swayed. Jack fluffed the pillow behind his partner's back and gently eased him back.

"You Ok?" Jack said. He reached over and brushed a strand of sweat-damp hair. Jack could feel the heat pulsing off him. Jack saw that the ice packs had melted down. They were damp to the touch. That was probably what had woken Mac up. Jack bent and lifted the IVs. Nothing appeared damaged, fluids still poured into the chamber at a good clip.

"I'm tired. Where's Mom?" Mac said looking at the door as if he expected her to come strolling in any minute.

"She's...uh, running late. She'll be home later." Mac sighed. He looked around his bed. Jack felt him tense in alarm as he lifted the covers and moved to look on the side of the bed.

"What are you looking for?" Jack asked. Mac had begun to breathe faster as his search grew more frantic.

"Where's Jack?" Mac asked looking up with pleading eyes.

"Jack?" Jack was unable to keep the warble out of his voice.

"Yeah, you said Archimedes wouldn't eat him anymore." Jack floundered. He knew Archimedes was a dog Mac had as a kid but what the hell was Jack? Or was his brain crossing over past and present? Mac looked at him like he was the dumbest adult he'd ever met. Mac rolled his eyes and huffed. A familiar voice at the door rescued Jack.

"He's getting his ears sewed back on," Laura said. Jack breathed out in relief. Mac stared at Laura unease in his face. Before either of them could say anything, Mac reached over and playfully slapped Jack on the shoulder.

"Dad!" He laughed, "You said Mom wasn't home! She's been here the whole time!

"Liar, liar pants on fire!" Jack grinned and looked up at Laura. She raised an eyebrow at Jack but didn't miss a beat.

"It was a surprise, honey. I got you some food." Mac's eyes widened and he clapped, squirming like a child. Jack moved over straightening the bedside table. Laura came in with a tray. Jack saw two tall glasses of papaya juice. two slices of watermelon, two bowls of some sort of soup and four small round biscuit shaped things that appeared to be covered with yellow candy. It smelled mind bogglingly good. Laura saw his questioning look.

"Groundnut soup and mashed cassava cakes in a banana glaze."

"That smells so good, doesn't it bud?" Mac looked at the tray with skepticism. He looked closer at the soup and pouted.

"There's beans in there!" Jack shared a smile with Laura. He picked up bowl and spoon. Mac ducked aside crossing his arms across his chest. "I hate beans!" Jack again floundered. What did he know about being a father? He remembered what his father would do and smiled.

"Now, you don't want to hurt your mom's feelings do you?" He said patiently. Mac looked up at Laura then down at his hands which had fallen into his lap and now twisted the sheet over his lap.

"No, but I hate beans."

"Just a few bites, then you can have these cakes." Jack negotiated. Mac studied him a long minute considering. Mac's eyes looked over at the cassava cakes suspiciously. Jack knew that look. Mac wasn't buying it.

"That's not cake." He declared and again the arms went across his chest. Jack looked up at the ceiling trying to figure out how to answer. If convincing kids to eat was this difficult, he decided, Jack would stick with terrorists.

"Sure it is, " Ebe said poking his head in the door. He walked over to the tray and grabbed one. Ebe ate it with theatrical delight. Mac's expression was slowly changing to want and he licked his lips. His eyes sent a pleading look to Jack.

"Eat your soup, then you can have some cakes and watermelon, I know you like watermelon," Jack said as parentally as he could. Mac scowled and gave the cakes a longing glance. Jack could see his partner's wheels turning. Probably for the first time in his life, Jack was actually grateful Mac wasn't up to full speed. Dealing with an adult Mac was difficult enough, but a child? Especially in a grown up's body. The sheer amount of trouble Mac would get into gave Jack shivers.

"Well, if you aren't going to eat I guess that leaves more cake for me," Ebe said reaching for the tray. Mac straightened alarmed.

"No! Those are mine! You can't have them, mom made them for me!" Ebe raised an eyebrow and looked over at his wife. Laura grinned and crossed to Jack, she put her hands gently on his shoulders.

"You're right, Angus, but now you eat your soup. Then your dad can tell you a bedtime story." Jack glared at her, story? Ebe laughed a deep belly laugh that made Mac jump.

"Dad...you two married…" Ebe laughed harder. Laura smiled. Jack scowled. Was it so hard to imagine him married? And Laura was a great woman and a mother like no other, Jack would be ecstatic if he had a wife like Laura. His gaze shifted to Mac. And a son like Mac.

"Hush, you're scaring our child," Laura said a teasing note in her voice. She shooed him out of the room, following him. Jack could hear them laughing. He rolled his eyes and returned to Mac who was glaring at the soup.

"Come on, bud. You heard your mother." He said the laughing outside the door grew louder. Jack felt himself blush and had no idea why. Mac finally accepted the soup and his eyes widened in delight. He looked up at Jack and forced himself to scowl. Jack knew that look. Mac was loving something but didn't want to admit it because he was doing it under protest. Mac ate a third of the soup, one of the cakes and a few bites of watermelon. Jack sighed. It had been awhile since Mac had eaten. It was good to get some real nutrition in him. Mac yawned, his eyes heavy. Jack put aside the dishes and helped Mac cuddle down into bed. He pulled the sheet over his friend. Mac sighed with contentment, Jack went to leave Mac caught his arm.

"You didn't tell me a story, you promised." Jack ground his teeth. It had been Laura not him who had promised, but child-MacGyver definitely wouldn't buy that as a valid legal argument. Jack sighed and sat back down. He cleared his throat and looked around the room trying to come up with a story. Mac waited with wide expectant eyes. Jack smiled and launched into a sanitized version of _Die Hard._ He set it in a car body shop and made Hans Gruber an evil elf bent on collecting every car in the world. He was encouraged by Mac's wide-eyed wonder at all the right places and giggles in the funny bits. Jack found himself getting into the story he was telling and kept adding more and more wild things. He glanced over to Mac and saw his friend was sound asleep a small smile on his face. Jack was a little disappointed, he kind of wanted to see how it ended. Without realizing he was doing it, he bent over and gave Mac a kiss on his head.

"Nite kiddo." He said

"Thanks, Jack." Mac murmured in a young voice. Jack froze then grinned, oddly warmed. He grabbed the food tray and left the room to eat, leaving Mac to hopefully have bright, happy dreams for a time. Jack glanced back. He wanted Mac back, but this version was nice too.


	17. Chapter 17

In the rear of the Umbilia home was a small yard. It too was bordered by a short white fence and sloped down steeply enough Jack had to belly walk to keep from sliding into the fence. There was a grove of palm trees and under their shade a thick carpet of grass. Jack sat back and sighed at the cool grass. Sierre Leone at night was similar to Los Angeles only staying in the mid 70s, and it felt wonderful. The fires and sounds from the field of families in front of the house was settling. Jack couldn't hear kids anymore, as they were probably asleep. Jack thought of Mac and smiled up the the vast panorama of stars peeking down between the palm fronds.

While desperately worried for his partner, Jack had to admit this evening had been fun. He'd gotten to see a side of MacGyver the world had lost around twenty years ago. Jack frowned. He knew the sad experiences in his life is a big part of what makes Mac so damn heroic, but it was painful to think of that good, innocent kid being abandoned. Once again Jack wanted to tool up his dad. What kind of asshole abandons their kid? Jack sat up. In the distance he could see the clustered lights of Freetown. Riley and Bozer should be here anytime. Jack felt relief at the idea. He was more than capable of handling most things that came his way and the Umbilias had been beyond unbelievably kind and caring, but Jack had work to do. His face took on a hard edge. His fists clenched when he thought about Sarana skulking around hunting Mac so she could keep using him for some sort of sick game. Jack figured it was time to dissuade her of that notion, pernanetly. Jack would have started looking already, but he couldn't leave Mac alone, not while he was so mentally vulnerable to feeling abandoned.

"Damn you, Hugh." Jack gritted. Again the flame of hatred flared hot. He and Mac got hurt on the job, it was part of the gig. They both had even been tortured before, more times than Jack would like to think about, but to see Mac's beautiful mind dissected. It was much worse than it had been watching that bitch stab him with those fucking thorns. Peter had told Jack that the powder was probably from the _Iboga_ tree, whatever the hell that was. He had said that Sarana's people used it for some sort of religious acid trip. Normally it wore off in 4-6 hours. Obe and Laura guessed that whatever poison had been in those thorns had caused it to extend its effect, make them worse. From the hives, it seems he was also having some sort of reaction to it. Add on top of that the face that he had been exposed to the binary agent again...it was a nasty cocktail for someone already weakened by physical injury.

His return to child-Mac reassured Jack, although he knew it shouldn't. It hadn't been the traumatic panic or hallucinations bad enough to make the unflappable MacGyver scream in terror. It had been a nice change, but Jack knew Mac was at least as sick as he was before, maybe worse. Jack closed his eyes facing into a cool breeze that blew in off the nearby coast. He could just barely make out the steel line of the ocean, but it was too far away to hear it or smell it. The hunched mountains above seemed to make the night quieter. Or maybe he felt quieter inside? Jack only knew that after a couple days of nothing but sleep and food, he was ready to go kick some psycho-bitch ass, and her brother too-Jack added as an afterthought.

He thought of Oscar Lupia and frowned up at the stars. It hadn't occurred to Jack at the time, but with the white cart he had driven, the simple wooden trailer behind it, and the grimy uniform Oscar was probably a baggage transporter at the airport. That would explain how he got to Mac and Jack so fast. Jack wondered if the man had been looking for them specifically or if he had just brought them home and Sarana had taken it from there. Jack decided it didn't matter, they both deserved a righteous ass kicking.

"Beautiful night." Ebe commented as he joined Jack. Jack looked up and nodded. His blood still hadn't cooled from his thoughts yet. Ebe studied him a minute, then sat beside Jack. He ran a hand through his thick greying hair. "You seem tense." Ebe commeted.

"Yup." Jack said around a bunching jaw. He blew out a breath and forced his hands to unclench.

"You're thinking it is time to go after the woman who has done this to your friend." Ebe made it a statement.

"Yes. It's time, as soon as my friends get here I'm gonna take off after the...her." Jack ground his teeth at his self-editing. Ebe nodded. They sat in silence a long minute.

"You will take your friends?" Ebe asked. Jack looked over at him surprised. It never crossed his mind that he should. He assumed that this was something he had to do. Something for the Jack he used to be to do, Jack amended grimly. Jack looked up at the vast sky taking slow steadying breaths.

"No, I need them to stay here with Mac so he doesn't feel…" Jack didn't want to say alone especially as the Umbilias had been so generous of heart and hearth.

"Abandoned." Ebe provided. Again Jack looked at his surprised. Ebe chuckled, looking at the sky. "You know the light we see from all these stars actually started out thousands, in some cases millions of years ago." Jack frowned wondering where the older man was going with this.

"Some of those stars died a long time ago turned into black holes. " He looked at Jack pointedly. Jack didn't get it. Ebe nodded. "It seems to me your friend MacGyver is like that. The light we see comes from the dark places he has been, " again the man looked deeply at Jack. Jack waited, still not following. The older man sighed. "You see Jack, I thiink all men are like stars. The light we shine now, especially if you are a good man, comes from places that are gone, but are kept alive deep, deep down inside of us." Jack nodded pondering that.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that. Mac has been so much, especially this past year…" Jack's eyes lost focus. Ebe put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes it is true of MacGyver, but you as well." Jack snorted.

"Ebe, I am not a good man." He said bluntly. Ebe studied him a long minute.

"Let me tell you a story. There was a rebel army that lived up in these hills, the RUF. They were brutal to those they captured. They cut off many, many hands and legs not only as a message but as a way of crippling the enemy. They were worse than animals, they cut off most of the people of Sierre Leone from their main source of income, the Blood Diamonds so they could buy weapons. Their camps would run red with blood as they crippled person after person. See, if a man only lost their legs he could still get around on crutches or a wheelchair, what can a man with no arms and possibly no legs do? Medicine here, while better than much of Africa is still very primative. Doctors without Borders helped, in fact that is where I met my beautiful Laura.

"But what was it like in these camps for the people who cut off the arms? In many camps there was cheering.." Ebe's gaze became distant.

"Sounds like you know that from personal experience." Jack said. Ebe sighed and began absently pulling up grass.

"Yes on the cheering, no on the cutting. Thankfully the peace accords were signed before that happened." Ebe's voice turned bitter, with a lot of the same self-hatred Jack felt. "I was disappointed, Jack. Furious even that I could not prove myself by cutting off these traitors arms and destroying the enemy. I left the rebels and travelled all over Sierre Leone. I saw the sheer amount of pain and suffering these atrocities have caused, I remembered the eyes, the begging...for the first time I realized these...things, I had made them things...were people like me, and they had been terrified and the pain...oh Jack the pain I caused." Jack heard rather than saw tears in the man's eyes.

"That's why you became a doctor?" Jack guessed.

"No, that's why I threw myself off a cliff." Ebe said looking back up at the stars.

"What?" Jack exclaimed.

"I could not live with the horror I'd been part of…" He turned to face Jack. "I know you know that feeling. I would be surprised if you hadn't had your own moment of jumping off a cliff." Jack felt his heart pound. He thought of the cavernous hole of the gun barrel, the crack of thunder and burning of his ear when he had fired after Hugh had moved his arm aside. One inch less...Ebe nodded.

"The thing is Jack, that darkness stays in a man's soul. I survived in part because Laura and her doctor friends literally happened to be walking by." Ebe smiled fondly and shook his head. "She is an amazing being, so full of love and hope and light. She brought me alive again, helped me cover up the black hole, remember the light I had once had so long ago. But there are times…" Ebe's eyes watched the palm leaves blow gently in the wind. Without looking at Jack he said,

"I know MacGyver was your lifeline back. I also know you walk a much thinner line than I do. Laura helped me not only become a doctor but a true healer and father." Ebe met Jack's gaze. "I saw you with MacGyver in there. I know what he means to you, and I also know what I would want to do with the fucking bitch who did this to him." Jack's eyes almost disappeared into his curlycue upright bangs. Ebe laughed. He put a warm hand on Jack's shoulder. "I know, Jack. I know that you and your friends must do some wonderful things to help people, and I know that you are the guard. Not only against bad men, enemies or the like, but against anything that would take the light in MacGyver away. You rely on skills you learned in the black hole, don't you?" Jack nodded. Ebe squeezed his shoulder. " Always remember how far you are away from that, you turned away from that person inside. Yes, he guides you gives you strength sometimes, but you are not him anymore. He is only a small portion of who you are. "

Jack felt like he was going to cry. Ebe stood up.

"Do you really think someone as heroic as MacGyver would hang out with an evil murderer?" Jack looked up at the man thoughtfully. "I know you probably hide him from your friends, and probably pretty well, they don't need to know the darkness like you and I do...but, Jack, if you don't use the lifelines God has given you you will fall back into that hold. Did you know that nothing escapes a black hole, not even light?..." Jack smiled.

"Mac told me that a time or two in arguments about movies." Ebe nodded turning away and heading back into the house. "When you go hunting, take your friends." He called over his shoulder. Jack watched him go feeling a warmth he had not felt in awhile. He looked up at the sky and knew that it had not been an accident he and Mac had ended up here.

"Thanks, Dad." He whispered, "and tell the Boss thanks too." The wind felt like a gentle hand running through his hair. Jack sat in companionable silence with the beautiful night until he heard the coming revving of a car's engine. Jack stood and walked into the house.

Riley was the first to hug him. Jack hugged her back fiercly. He hadn't realized how much he had missed having the family together. Together they felt unstoppable, alone? He glanced at Ebe who was talking to Peter in rapid fire Krio. Alone, he felt hollow. Bozer had tears in his eyes as he hugged Jack.

"It's so good to see you." Jack said meaning it. Riley was studying from head to toe. She shook her head.

"You look like Hell, and what are you wearing?" Jack grinned. He had borrowed clothes from Max. Clothes the man normally wore to the distant villages he travelled to. They reminded Jack of clothes he'd seen migrant workers in California wear.

"Africa sheek." He said.

"How's Mac?" Bozer asked. Jack's smile faded. Before he could say a word, a familiar scream cut through the house. Bozer's eyes went wide and he took off running toward the sound. The others followed him, Jack hoping to catch up to him, to prepare him. Bozer went into the room, it was too dark to see. He instinctively reached for a light switch to the right of the door and found one. He stepped back horrified. Mac looked lie an unhealthy piece of rose marble. His eyes and cheeks were sunken and Bozer was sure he had lost weight. He was wet as if he'd had a shower, but the fever light in his eyes spoke volumes. Mac had gotten tangled in his IV line and was screaming, working furiously to get out of what Bozer was sure he thought of as bindings. Bozer's heart broke as Mac thrashed and screamed, his body shaking with blind panic.

"Mac, Mac, hey Dude. Let me help you." He said walking to his best friend's side. Mac paused and looked up at him. Bozer thought the blank look of non-recognization was one of the most terrifying things he'd ever seen. Mac shied away from his hands, making an animal noise of fear. He tried to scoot over, and Bozer was worried he'd fall off the bed. Bozer turned and looked desperately at the others. Jack went to Mac and carefully untangled him. Mac was breathing heavy his eyes never leaving Bozer, never losing their fear. Bozer turned and pushed out of the room, unable to stop the tears from falling.

After he left, Mac's eyes fell on Riley. Riley stood still, unsure what to do.

"Hey, Mac." She said softly. Mac tried to sit up but flopped back to weak to hold himself up. He smiled. Riley let out a breath in relief.

"Nikki!" Mac said reaching for her. Riley looked at Jack desperately. Jack gave her a sympathetic look. Riley could see the slump of Jack's shoulders. She wondered how bad it had gotten. She crossed over to Mac and took a hand, a very hot hand. Her alarm must have shown on her face.

"It's ok, Riley." Jack said softly. He bent and moved strewn ice packs closer to Mac's skin. Mac layed back breathing heavy for a long minute enjoying the coolness. Riley went to pull away from his limp hand. It tightened on hers savagely. He sat up rage and hurt in his eyes. Riley jumped back as far as she could as it looked like Mac was going to come out of the bed after her.

"Traitor!" Mac growled.

"Easy, buddy. That's Riley." Jack said trying to ease Mac's grip on Riley's arm. Riley was gently guided to the side and the small figure of Laura Umbilia pushed through to Mac's IV. She injected medicine in. Mac glared at Riley, his mouth moving but no sound coming out as if he couldn't decide whether to be happy to see her or attack her. Slowly his hand loosened, his eyes drooped. His breathing eased and he relaxed back closing his eyes.

"Holy shit." Riley said softly. She felt Jack at her side and was folded into a fatherly hug she desperately needed.

"I know, kiddo. I know."


	18. Chapter 18

Jack found Bozer leaning against a palm tree in the darkest corner of the Umbilia's back yard. He hesitated before approaching the younger man. Usually Mac talked to Bozer about things, especially things that bothered him. While he and Bozer had become friendly, Jack wasn't sure if they were truly friends yet. He took a deep breath and walked up to Bozer. Bozer turned at hearing Jack's footsteps and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. Jack heard him clear his throat as Jack drew abreast of him.

"Hey, Boze." Jack said. He looked out at the mountains and stars above rather than at Bozer. When Bozer didn't answer, Jack continued. "Beautiful country isn't it."

"Terrible for my allergies." Bozer sniffed. Jack's mouth quirked up at the corners. He didn't say anything. Bozer didn't want to admit he was crying? Jack could live with that.

"Are you ok, man?" Jack asked turning to look directly at Bozer. Bozer looked at the ground then up, meeting Jack's eye. He took a deep breath.

"I truly don't know." He said honestly. Jack nodded. "I don't think I can do this, Jack." Bozer said softly turning away and putting his hands in his pockets. Jack frowned.

"Can't do what?" He asked. Bozer shook his head and began to pace.

"I don't know...THIS! Ever since I learned about Phoenix bad stuff has been happening...I didn't mind. I mean I knew it was dangerous, and I knew that I would worry about Mac being in the field and all that...but this is too much. He was in a coma six months ago and was just coming back and now this? What if he doesn't make it? Or if he does what if he doesn't remember any of us? What if he's always scared of me?" Bozer crossed his arms across his chest. Jack could see him shiver, but knew the mild wind had nothing to do with it. He put a hand on Bozer's shoulder.

"I know I'm worried too…" Bozer shook off the hand and Jack was surprised by the anger that flashed in his eyes.

"Then why didn't you stop this? You always say you have his back, why didn't you? Because of you…" Bozer turned and kicked the palm tree in his frustration. Jack took a second to think of a reply.

"You don't think I didn't try?" Bozer's shrug was his only reply. Jack ran a hand through his hair as he stepped away from Bozer. "When we go out, we know it's going to be dangerous and anything can happen, Bozer you don't know half the stuff…" Bozer turned literally shaking with rage. Jack changed directions. "Look, I love that boy like he's my own. I've seen him hurt in so many ways it scares me, but every time, "Jack reached out and turned Bozer to face him, "EVERY time Boze, every time he's come back stronger for it. I try my best to protect him, I really do...but sometimes…" This time Jack turned away crossing his arms. "They made me watch…" Jack's voice was barely above a whisper. He heard Bozer's surprised exhale, but continued on talking more to himself than Bozer. "I watched as that...that bitch stabbed him over and over with these six inch thorns. I watched every time he screamed, every time…" Jack trailed off unable to continue. He stared ahead, scenes replaying. He jumped when Bozer put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Man, I didn't know." Bozer said. Jack turned.

"So when you say you can't take it any more...I get it Boze, I do. But what can we do? You know Mac can't stop being so...so Mac." Bozer smiled weakly.

"Jack…" Bozer began the stopped. There was an awkward pause between them.

"Would you really want Mac to change?" Jack asked. Bozer didn't answer. "Believe me there are plenty of times I want to lock him up in a soft room full of bubble wrap but Mac wouldn't ever let me, in face he fights me when I try to stop him from doing stupid stuff. I hate that he goes into the danger he does, I hate that he is so brave...but Bozer, I wouldn't change him for the world. Mac is too special for that. I go with him to protect him as much as I can. You know I would die for him in a heartbeat, right?" Jack studied Bozer a long minute. Bozer closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

"I know that, Jack. I'm sorry I took your head off...it's just seeing him on that vent, the seizures and now all feverish and lost in some nightmare world where his family are enemies and he's scared of everything...Mac is always the rock, ya know? He has held it together so many times when I was losing it…" Jack smiled.

"Tell me about it. Watching him disarm bombs…" Jack closed his eyes and shuddered. Bozer shook his head.

"I really don't want to know." They were both quiet lost in their thoughts.

"How do you do it?" Bozer asked. Jack considered.

"I have to do it. I guess, it's the price you pay for being friends with someone like Mac."

"I don't know if I can." Bozer said.

"Stay his friend?" Jack asked his voice a mixture of surprise.

"No, of course not, I'll always be his friend, but…"

"But…?"

"Hell, I don't know Jack…" Bozer paced then leaned against the palm tree. His eyes took on a faraway look. "I wish I still didn't know." He whispered. Jack didn't say anything, there really was nothing he could say. Bozer stood up and took a deep breath.

"So are we going after her?" Jack didn't have to ask which "she" Bozer meant. He faced Bozer.

"WE aren't, Riley and me are." Jack waited for an explosion of protest. Jack was surprised when Bozer's shoulders drooped.

"What am I supposed to do?" Bozer asked. Jack knew he meant about Mac's condition.

"Boze, the Umbilia's are all going to be here, you aren't going to be alone…"

"No, I mean what am I going to do about Mac being afraid of me?" Jack ducked his head to meet Bozer's gaze.

"Hey, listen now. You've known Bozer longer than anywhere, you have to remember that, he's in there somewhere. He knows who you are, just be patient."

Before Bozer could respond they heard the back door. Peter and Riley joined them. Both Jack and Bozer turned with alarm. Riley held up her hand,

"He's fine...well, not fine…" She said.

"My mother and father are giving him an ice bath to try to bring down his fever." Peter said. Bozer's eyes widened.

"Do they need help?" Bozer asked. The fear trembling in his voice was obvious. Peter smiled gently.

"Of course." He said. Bozer smiled and jumped to the door. The others watched him go.

"Thanks, man." Jack said. Peter shrugged.

"It seemed like what he needed." He said. Jack crossed his arms.

"So tell me what you learned at the consulate."

"It's an ugly building that looks like a prison." Riley said. Jack raised his eyebrow not amused. "No, seriously, it was closed when Bozer and I got there. Jack turned his gaze toward Peter.

"I talked to the consulate general. He says that Sarana was applying for a visa to the US. She had left the application behind-not filled out-when she followed me to the hospital. "

"It wasn't your fault." Riley said. Peter shrugged and looked at Jack who was frowning at the ground.

"Why would she want to go to the US? All of her power is here, I've only saw police on her payroll."

"Going to follow Mac home?" Riley asked her forehead wrinkling in thought.

"Eventually I can see that, but he's here now and I'm pretty sure she knows that." Peter's alarm was easily visible. Jack waved his hand to offer reassurance,

"Here in the country, not here here. If she knew where he was specifically we wouldn't have to go find her she'd find us." The dark tones in Jack's voice told the others that he would be delighted if that happened.

"Odin?" Riley suggested. Jack nodded.

"That makes sense, she must think he could protect her…"Peter started.

"More than that, she thinks that he can give her what she really wants." Riley said.

"Mac." Jack growled.

"Let's home Matty gets him before he can do that." Riley said.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Matty had a piles of papers spread across the war room's table. Within arms reach was the box of files she had not let out of her sight since they had gotten all of the info from the underground base. She glanced up as a tall, thin woman strolled in holding a small package.

"Molly, are we set to go?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Here are the tickets to Washington." Matty smiled taking the tickets. She looked up as Molly stood watching her. The woman looked like she was worried.

"Anything else?"

"Ma'am, are you sure going alone is a good idea? After all the places they infiltrated…"

"I'll be fine and I wouldn't worry about those others, I have everything I need right here." Matty said patting the box beside her.

"And you'll give it to…"

"I have an appointment with the Attorney General later this evening, why do you ask?" Matty said frowning. Molly sighed and pulled a pistol out of the small package. Matty raised an eyebrow.

"I think I better go with you." Molly said with genuine regret in her voice.

"For my safety, no doubt." Matty said. Molly smiled but didn't answer. She motioned to Matty to pick up the box of papers. Matty did without protest.

"So how long have you been a traitor?" She asked conversationally.

"Shut up." Molly hissed moving close behind Matty. She hid the gun between their bodies as they left the room and walked down the hallway.

"Well this is going to be a fun ride." Maddy sighed.


	19. Chapter 19

Riley watched Jack with a mixture of concern and nervousness. The water taxi to Lugi International airport in Freetown had been late and was insanely overcrowded. Jack had been gone this morning when she had woken up. He had gone to the consulate. Matty was missing. Jack had seemed oddly calm about that. In fact, she could feel him doing a MacGyver-pulling into himself behind a wall. He had been quiet. That and the fact that he had come back with a pile of money and a makarov pistol worried her. She had watched him clean the cold war era pistol with a matter of factness that while not surprising was disturbing. It was like Jack, the closest thing to a father she had known was gone and in his place was a cold machine. It terrified her.

Ever since he had beat the crap out of her real dad she knew that Jack was both familiar and proficient in violence, but she had never seen this hard edged Jack. She had seen him kill in the line of the job but it had always been to protect her or Mac. Looking at this Jack, she seriously wondered if he was capable of cold blooded murder. She shivered and put her arms across her chest, it had nothing to do with the cool morning breeze coming off the river that surrounded the airport.

"Cold?" Jack asked. He looked down at her with the same old Jack concern. She smiled deciding she was letting her imagination get in her way. Of course Jack was off, he had been with a very sick, very delusional MacGyver. She couldn't even imagine how hard that was.

"Nah, just nervous." She answered nervously. Jack nodded and pushed in closer as the thick crowd behind them moved.

"We just have to find them, the consulate said he got the airport security on board." Jack said. Riley found his words reassuring, but the unease didn't leave her.

"Forgive me if my trust is a little low. What are we going to do about Matty?" Jack glared at the man next to him who elbowed him in the side. The man seemed to pale and quickly moved away.

"I would worry more about the people that took her." He sighed, "...besides there isn't much we can do from here. We need to find Oscar so he can lead us to his sister." Jack snarled the last like it was a swear.

"I tried hacking Lungi's systems but I couldn't." Riley said, her forehead furrowed in frustration. Jack's eyebrow raised.

"They have that good of a system?" Jack rolled her eyes amazed at how dumb Jack can be sometimes. Does Sierre Leone look like a place that would have a security system she couldn't get into?

"No, the opposite. Other than arrivals and departures they don't have any records on computer, not even employee records."

"And the lovely Lupia family wouldn't be stupid to put their own names on a plane ticket, I take it?" Jack asked.

"Nope. Are you sure they would go to the US?" Jack seemed to glare at the shore demanding it to move closer faster.

"That's what my gut says, and it's really their only move left. Both the cops and the consulate are cleaning house, their disease factory is buried under miles of debris and her buddy Hugh is…" Riley didn't like the cold satisfaction in his voice "Not a problem any more. I think she got a visa before through the mole at the consulate and is skedaddling." Whatever Riley might have said was lost by the boat docking. Jack had managed to get them close to the gang plank. He glared at those who cut in front of them or just shoved those who got between him and land out of the way. Riley held onto his shirt and followed staying close in his wake.

Lungi airport looked like three giant white quonset huts laid out side by side. A dozen flags Riley couldn't identify hung limply in the morning heat. Around the entrance clustered what looked like hundreds of people yelling out in a hundred different languages. Riley knew enough about travelling to know they were trying to hawk products or rides. From her arrival the day before, she also knew they would try their damndest to steal them blind. One got into her space, Jack turned around and stared at the woman. She backed away. Riley decided that Jack in a bad mood was definitely a good person to travel to third world nations with.

As they walked in they were greeted by a small group of SLP. The police glared impassively at everyone, their eyes scanning the crowd. Oddly, this did not make Riley feel any safer. Glancing at the people heading off to the departure department, Riley could tell they weren't overly confident in the heavily armed but small numbered police force either. Jack walked up to the group. A small woman in the royal blue shirt and navy pants and beret walked up to him.

"Dalton?" She snapped in heavily accented English. Riley narrowed her gaze. The woman was the very definition of pissed off. She wished for the billionth time Mac was here with them. Jack wasn't really known for his diplomacy. Riley stepped forward.

"We need to …" She began in a friendly voice. The woman shot her a quick glance then focused her eyes on Jack. Riley gritted her teeth. She knew Sierre Leone was not different than most of Africa in their view of women as belongings, but she would have thought a woman cop would not dismiss her that easily.

"Did you find Oscar Lupia?" Jack said a hard edge to his voice. The woman didn't answer. She kept her unblinking stare on Jack's eyes. Jack smiled. Riley figured as much as he loved pissing people off, he was enjoying this eyeball pissing contest. A tall, big man in a white shirt joined them.

"Sergeant!" He snapped. She glanced at him, then snapped to attention. In comparison the man who joined them was open and friendly. He seemed like a tour guide rather than the captain of the police. "I'm sorry for Sgt. Celito." He said holding out a hand. Jack seemed to melt back into his laid back self.

"That's OK captain, I know it must be hard to have Americans walk in and take over." The captain's eyes seemed to freeze. He stiffly turned to the other police. They spun in formation and spread out.

"Oscar Lupia is no longer an employee here." The captain said, his back stiff.

"We should check departures, they are probably trying to get to the US." Jack said.

"Do you think that is really a possibility?" The captain sniffed.

"You don't?" Jack challenged. The taller man gave Jack a frigid look.

"What reason would they have to go to your country?" The man's cold voice emphasised the "Your country." Jack shook his head and glanced at Riley. Riley knew that look well and braced herself. Jack's patience was redlining.

"Well, since we're here and all why don't we go make sure? If they aren't here, then we can check out the rest of your country?" Jack drawled. The taller man's lips compressed tightly, his jaw clenched. Without a word the man turned and joined his people strolling around the terminal. Jack muttered under his breath, nothing kind Riley figured. Jack looked at her nodding toward the Departures terminal. Riley almost had to run to keep up.

After searching for two hours, watching planes come and go, they finally hit paydirt. Riley was suddenly grabbed by Jack and pulled behind a tall Delta ad sign. Before she could speak, he gave her a finger over the lips and pointed. Oscar Lupia in Jeans and a T-shirt sat in one of the chairs with a small woven suitcase behind him. He was staring at the door to the glass tunnel leading down to the planes. The man's shoulders were slumped. Riley wondered if he didn't really want to follow his sister's madness anymore or just hated losing the cushy position in their criminal network. The man turned and stood up. Jack shot Riley a grim smile. Sarana Lupia now with short hair in a reddish hue also wearing Jeans and a T shirt strode toward him. Jack had said she looked like a runway model. She certainly walked like one, her hips swaying in time with her dainty steps. Riley figured she could easily model on a runway, but she thought her face too angular to be called beautiful. She a wedged shaped face that reminded Riley of a diamondback. Riley was distracted by Jack pulling a gun. Keeping it low beside his leg he strode towards the pair with a purpose. Riley cussed. She always teased Mac about only having half a plan. She would be thrilled at this moment if there was any shred of a plan.

Sarana saw them. She yelled at Oscar in African, bent grabbed the suitcase and took off running. Oscar yelled back, looking like he wanted to follow her. He paused then took off running in the opposite direction. Jack honed in on Sarana like a pitbull. Riley paused shook her head and took off after Oscar.

Matty who sat in a rickety chair in a run down old hotel at gunpoint was not surprised to see Kent Campbell, Assistant Attorney General walk in. She smiled up at him.

"Well hello there Kent, how goes the treason business?" She asked her cold eyes belying her friendly voice. "Or should I call you Odin?" Campbell studied her with emotionless eyes that were a weird light grey offset by the silver frames of his bifocals. He looked at Molly and indicated the box of papers at Matty's feet.

"Is it all there?" He asked. His wheezy voice matched his thinning gray hair and saggy jowls.

"Yes, I checked at Phoenix there is no paper trail or any files." Kent nodded raised a pistol and shot Molly in the head. Matty jumped surprised by the casual violence. She looked at Kent and raised an eyebrow.

"That's one way to plug a leak." She said. Campbell shrugged and raised the gun to shoot Matty. Matty didn't turn away but her heart thumped in her throat and her breath caught. As the man was tightening his finger to pull the trigger the door behind Matty exploded and Phoenix agents swarmed the room. They took down Campbell in a heartbeat and he was restrained in another. He stared at Matty in shock. She smiled sweetly at him and bent down to the box she'd been carrying all day. She opened in and dumped out the papers. Under the papers was a complicated piece of electronics he knew well. His face paled.

"We got it all Ma'am, and there were ten hostiles outside that are neutralized, the building is secure."

"Good job. " Matty commended. She crossed the room to stop by Molly's staring corpse. Matty smiled. "You're fired." She turned to Kent Campbell, her smile frosted.

"And you, Mr. Campbell...well you remember all those people you took off the street, all the real terrorists?" Matty leaned in close. "You'll be getting to see them real soon." The man panicked and began to thrash violently against his bindings.

"You bitch! You don't know who you're messing with, you can't do this!" He yelled. Matty crossed to the door. Turning she said, "watch me." The man began to yell incoherently. It was music to Matty's ears. She left the room with more than a little pep in her step.

Bozer stared down at Mac who had been sleeping calmly since the ice cold bath. Bozer let out a deep breath. Mac had fought, probably thought he was being waterboarded, Bozer thought. Seeing his panic, the kind Umbilia couple had told him to go change Mac's linens. Bozer was happy, and felt guilty over that happiness, so now he refused to leave Mac's side. He held Mac's hand. Mac's face was more pale than mottled, Laura and Ebe couldn't tell Bozer if that was better or worse. The pustule rash on his neck and chest was gone. The docs figured it might have been the cream they had put over his puncture wounds. They decided to leave them open. Bozer stared at them. They looked like really big mosquito bites that had been itched raw. His chest was multihued, but seemed more yellow than dark purple. Bozer knew that was a good thing. The rest, however, was definitely not good. Mac wheezed like an accordion and the left of his chest still flopped out of time with his right and the stitches. Bozer kept his eyes on Mac's face. Laura had said they looked better than when Mac had arrived, but Bozer didn't see how. They had gone in to debride a sloppy stitch job Sarana had done inside and had stitched most of the outside incision back together instead of using staples. The wound was raw, open and wet, For the inner wound they had stuck in a drain, the outer wound they let drain into a thick pad of dressings. It looked like a raw steak with a really sick psychopathic grin. Bozer stared down at the hand he held. He couldn't stand the silence anymore and began to babble.

"You know Mac, you really have to come back. Jack and Riley miss you and I...I...well who the hell is going to rebuild the snow machine, I know it's summer right now but winter is around the corner and you spoiled Riley with that last year, this year she says she might bring Captain Aloha and I think we should give him a new experience...you know, but not that I'm jealous of him, I just want him to think I am so he will treat Riley good, you know Jack would kick his ass if he didn't but I thought maybe we should be a little prophylactic about this…" The hand in his twitched. Bozer looked up bracing himself. To his shock and delight Mac's blue eyes were calmly studying him.

"There you are!" Bozer said grinning. Mac's glance floated around the room confused. He frowned. Bozer waited with baited breath. Mac focused on him and licked his lips.

"Prophylactic?" He asked. His voice was as weak as a dying kitten's meow, but he seemed perfectly lucid. Bozer's grin grew even bigger.

"How do you feel? Are you ok? Can I get you anything? Are you hurting…" He rambled. Mac's lips quirked a tiny bit.

"I'm…" He closed his eyes, then wrestled them open. "I'm fine Boze. Where's Jack? Riley?" Bozer's eyes dropped. He felt a stronger twitch in his hand. "Boze?" Bozer sighed.

"They went after that...woman who did this to you." Mac raised his eyebrows at the hostility in his friend's voice. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. To Bozer's amazement he slowly pushed himself up onto an elbow. Mac closed his eyes as his body swayed. Bozer jumped to his feet. He held out a hand to push Mac back to the bed, but didn't know if he would hurt his friend or not.

"Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" He roared. Mac winced and Bozer fought to control his volume, "You get back in that bed or so help me…?" His anger choked the words away. Mac looked up at him blinking as if it was hard to bring Bozer's face into focus.

"Jack…" He rasped.

"Is doing just fine, you lay your skinny white sickly ass back or when he gets back I'll tell on you." Bozer could feel heat flush his skin. Mac's smiled weakly.

"Tell on me? What are we in middle school again?" Bozer glared at him. Mac chuckled then fell back gasping and holding his side. His eyes closed as he forced himself to keep breathing. Bozer's anger evaporated. He snatched up Mac's hand.

"Are you ok?" Terror caused his voice to shake, "I can get the doc…" Mac opened his eyes and frowned at Bozer. He forced his body to relax.

"I'm fine, Boze." He again looked around the room which was brightly lit and stared up at the ceiling fans turning overhead a long minute with a distant gaze. Bozer felt his heartbeat skip.

"Mac? You aren't going cray-cray again are you?" Mac blinked slowly then looked down at Bozer. All traces of humor were gone.

"I'm sorry, Boze." He said softly. Bozer frowned surprised.

"What? Why?"

"I...scared you." Mac said fighting to keep his eyes open. Bozer sank back and smiled at his best friend.

"You're forgiven, if you promise to never do this again." He said. Mac squeezed his hand.

"Deal…" His eyes were taking longer to open after blinking. "Thanks." He murmured.

"For what?" Bozer asked.

"For bringing me back...I was lost, and I couldn't...couldn't…." Mac's voice trailed off as he drifted back to sleep. Bozer smiled feeling his heart almost burst with love for his friend. He brushed an errant strand of blond hair out of Mac's face.

"Anytime, buddy. Anytime." He whispered back.

The punch knocked Riley down. She tasted blood and the room spun. Agony filled her head. Before she could shake it off she was lifted off the ground by her neck. She didn't hesitate, she slammed her open hands down on Oscar Lupia's ears with all the force she could muster. He screamed and dropped her. She fell against the was rasping in air. The big man looked at her shaking his head. Riley backed up. Great all she did was piss him off. Her eyes desperately scanned the area for a weapon. They were in an employee-only area behind the baggage claim conveyor belt. Piles of suitcases and packages lined the steel shelves around her. Oscar was between her and the door. She backed up. He lunged at her, she managed to sidestep and winced as her side ran into the corner of a briefcase. Adrenaline pumping she grabbed it and slammed the man on the head as he went by. He fell to his knees. She turned to dash to the door.

Lupia grabbed her ankle and she slammed to the ground the breath whooshing out of her. She felt herself being picked up by the back of her shirt and thrown backwards. She slammed into a cement wall and fell to her knees gasping, trying to chase the stars away. She looked up at the man lumbering toward her.

"You sure have a way with girls." She said desperately trying to buy time. To her surprise Oscar hesitated. It gave Riley time to stagger to her feet. Oscar didn't look like he really wanted to fight her. "Come on, Dude, you don't want to do this. Turn yourself in…" Oscar shook his head and sighed.

"I can't...I'm sorry my sister needs me." With that he leapt forward. Riley waited to the last minute then slid out of the way. Oscar fell to his knees stunned by his impact with cement. Riley took off running for the door. Oscar recouped faster than she thought was possible, and he knew this area a lot better than he did. She only heard the squeak of his shoe, then she was lifted and thrown into a rack of luggage. Riley winced as the rack tilted and spun. A shelf stabbed into her side. She reached down and her hand alighted on a small hard plastic carry on bag. Riley snarled. As Oscar reached down to get her, she swung with all she had. The hard shell cracked as it slammed into Lupia's head. He flopped backward onto the luggage carousel. Riley's eyes widened as she saw his limp body be sucked out through the small entrance to the conveyer belt. His large body stopped in the doorway. Riley really hoped he was stuck. She waited by the man didn't move. She raced for the door.

Out in baggage claim a group of blue shirt's surrounded Oscar. They appeared to be trying to pull him out. Riley smiled. She saw the Sergeant and Captain standing off to the side. Riley's jaw flilnched. She marched up to them

"Oh, you're welcome by the way." She said. She pivoted and stalked off to find Jack. The stuttering of nine bullet shots caused her to break into a sprint.

Jack paused breathing hard. Sarana had sliced through the crowds like a snake, Jack more like a bulldozer. He had come around the corner and froze. The crowd thinned out at this end of the terminal. Jack could easily see Sarana wasn't there. He knew she hadn't passed him. Where was the bitch? He caught site of a yellow bucket peeking out around the corner. He stalked over his gun at the ready. He tuned out the frightened sounds of the waiting passengers around him. The bucket was in the doorway of the men's room. Two workers stared at him and put their arms up in fear. It was clear Sarana hadn't been through here. Jack smiled knowing where she was.

"Ladies room?" He asked. One of the workers pointed around another corner to the left. Jack nodded and crept that way, slowing. He was close he could feel it. The women's room didn't have a door instead having a sweeping curve. He crept around it.

A hand lashed out. Jack jumped back. The hand carrying a poisonous thorn slammed in the tile in front of Jack's face. He wove backwards and kicked out. Sarana howled as she was pushed back into the room. Jack followed tracking her with the makarov. Her short hair was sticking up in all directions and her eyes has lost any semblance of sanity. Again she lunged at him, he side stepped and smashed the butt of his pistol in her face. She sprawled on the floor, the thorn falling out of her reach. She looked up at Jack and smiled.

"What now, Jacky boy?" Jack's face hardened at the use of Hugh's pet name. He raised the gun and pointed at her chest. Jack felt a hundred emotions go through him. Taking this for an opportunity, Sarana lashed out with her foot. She knocked Jack's gun away. He slid across the floor and grabbed it. By the time he had a bead on her again she was standing against the wall, pushing herself up straight. She cocked her chin back defiantly and held out her hands.

"I surrender." she said. Jack didn't move, the gun didn't waver. Conflict raged across his face. "Come on, Jacky boy, you're a good man. You wouldn't kill a defenseless woman in cold blood would you?" She said it conversationally as if she were pointing out something to a very slow child. Jack stared at her a long minute. She opened her mouth to say something, she froze. Jack's face smoothed, conflict gone. Without hesitation he raised the makarov and emptied the entire clip into the woman's body. Surprise was still on her face as she fell to the tile clutching her chest. Jack looked down at her a long minute.

"I'm not a good man." He said softly. He turned and left the room.


	20. epilogue

By the time they pulled into the Umbilia home, Riley was exhausted and in a lot of pain. That didn't stop her from knowing something was up with Jack. He was much more at ease and satisfied, he smiled and joked like always but there was something not right. When she told him about what happened he whooped and told her she was truly a bad badass. She smiled, feeling pleased and more than a little proud. When she asked about what happened with Sarana he shrugged and said that she wasn't a problem anymore. He refused to talk about it beyond that. Riley frowned. Jack had never been shy about sharing his battle field stories before. Riley looked at the house as they pulled in. She let out a long breath. It was over, it was really over. Jack got out of the car without a word and strode into the house. Riley frowned. Except MacGyver. Was he any better? She found herself reluctant to go in and see how he was.

Jack sat in Mac's room studying his partner's face. Bozer had said he'd woken up, but since Jack and Riley have been back he hasn't moved a muscle. Jack leaned his elbows on his knees staring at the floor. He was kind of glad it was quiet and he was alone with his sleeping partner. It gave him a chance to think. He had murdered in cold blood. He ran a hand through his hair. He didn't really feel bad, in fact he didn't regret it at all. If he hadn't the crazy bitch would never stop following Mac. Flashes of Mac stuck by those thorns like a frog being disected, confused Mac...the screams...Jack rubbed his eyes. No, the bitch got what she diserved. He frowned. It bothered him that he wasn't more bothered by it. He'd done worse in his time, for less reason, but he'd put that all behind him didn't he?

"What's wrong?" The familiar voice was barely above a whisper. Jack's head snapped up and he grinned in delight. Mac studied him with sleepy but clear eyes.

"I was waiting for you to get off your lazy ass and wake up." He said leaning in closer. Mac smiled weakly, but his concern didn't diminish. Jack found himself turning away looking at the ground.

"Jack?" Mac asked. Jack felt a week hand wrap around his wrist. He fought the urge to pull away. Oddly he felt like he was dirty and didn't want to get Mac dirty. "Jack?"

"You really need to get some sleep." Jack said standing up to leave. To his surprise Mac held on with a solid vise grip.

"Tell me." He said worry morphing to fear in his blue eyes. Jack sat back down and put his hand over his partner's. He would always do whatever he had to to keep fear from ever coming near those eyes ever again.

"It's fine...I was just…" Jack trailed off, his eyes drifting to the distance. Mac frowned. Jack looked at him. "Do you think I'm a good man?" He asked. Mac's eyes widened.

"Where is this coming from?" Mac asked. Jack looked at the floor.

"No, nevermind...it's all good…it's nothing…"

"Doesn't sound like nothing." Mac squeezed Jack's wrist until the older man looked up at him. Jack sighed and leaned back letting Mac keep his wrist.

"Do you ever think...ever think that I could go too far, do something...evil." Jack said. "Maybe not evil, but really, really bad."

"What happened?" Mac's voice was getting stronger with worry, but his breathing was also sounding harsher. Jack shook his head and was going to tell Mac to let it go. Mac had other ideas. "I do think you're a good man." He said softly. Jack looked up to him a hunger in his eyes. Mac smilled fondly. "I think you only do bad things to help other people…." Mac had to pause for air, before Jack could interrupt Mac continued speaking. "I know…" Mac grabbed Jack's wrist hard enough to leave fingernail marks. Jack didn't even flinch. " I KNOW you are a good man, Jack. Whatever you did that made you doubt yourself…" Mac closed his eyes as he sank back exhaustion. He slowly opened his eyes. "...you...sometimes you're stupid." Mac finished. His hand fell weakly from Jack's wrist. Jack felt the tingle of tears growing in his eyes.

"No doubt about that." He said softly as Mac drifted off. Jack smiled down at hiim. Jack took a deep breath and crossed over to the bed he'd been staying in. He laid down and felt the accumulation of stress over the past few weeks, past few months, hell the past year float off his shoulders. He yawned having trouble staying awake. He looked over at Mac, for the gazillionth time honored to have a friend like MacGyver. He felt his eyes slowly sag. Finally the Valhalla project was dead with all its branches past and present. Mac had a long recovery ahead of him, but he'd make it. It would be rough at times, but Jack would do everything humanly possible to help his friend get back up to full strength, then keep him there.

Jack let out a deep breath, relaxing at the easy breathing of his friend, his partner, his brother beside him. Jack didn't know if he was a good man, but he knew Mac was. Jack smiled. He would do anything he could do to keep it that way. He dreamed off to a long restful sleep.

Sarana opened her eyes. She gasped in agony. A nurse stood over her injecting something in her IV. Slowly the pain melted from unbearable to agony. She glanced around her and smiled at the irony. She was in the same maternal hospital she had chased MacGyver through.

"You are lucky to be alive." The woman said. Sarana nodded and went to move her right hand. She was surprised to find it handcuffed to the bed. The nurse shot her a sympathetic look as she turned and left. The entire room came into focus. The women in the ward were walking and talking to each other with babies in their arms. On the other side of the curtain separating her from the other patients she could just make out the form of a police man. Sarana began to laugh. She winced holding her side, but continued to laugh. MacGyver and Jack Dalton had given her a great gift. She had been searching for an answer to one of the most important questions in existence. How do people survive? How do they keep going when all else is lost? Sarana grinned up at the ceiling fan lazily turning above her bed. She finally had her answer. Why had she survived? One word-revenge. Sarana Lupia laughed until the drugs kicked in and she drifted away with a happy smile on her face.

 **There we are, the end of a fun story. Thank you all for reading and your wonderful feedback you have no idea how much I appreciate it. After killing Sarana off so satisfactorily, why did I let her live? (I hear you shout this through the screen) well blame a friend of mine. She thought that it would be fun to have her and Murdoc hang together in a story. I wanted to leave it open for that possibility. Coming soon- In the works is a story called Inferno where Mac and co fight a murder cult in the middle of a forest fire, and a project called Bits and Bobs-season one, where I am going to watch the entire season (I desperately want new ones!) and episode by episode write missing scenes/ AU/ and whatever else seems like fun. Again thank you so much!**


End file.
